Biting baby boy

Eileen - posted on 01/13/2010

My daughter bit, and actually drew blood. I tried everything and nothing helped. She grew out of it. It's just a stage that kids go through. Now my little boy is doing it. I just pull him away from me when he tries to bite me and tell him no. Other than that I don't freak out because I see it as a stage and he will out grow it.

Becky - posted on 01/13/2010

I remember being bit back as a kid. Of course I was older, but when my kids were going through that stage I told them no and that is not nice. My kids stopped with it being told to them enough. Time out maybe needed also as it did for my grandson. His other grandmother bit back and he thought biting was okay. Never bite back, teach him by example.

Jamie - posted on 01/13/2010

Thanks for all the great advice, moms. I'll try some of your ideas out and see what happens. It's intresting to see the divide on the "bite them back" issue. I don't know if I can bring myself to do it, but if you ask me right after he bites me I may say different. It's strange, he never bites me when he's nursing, THANK GOD. If I figure something out I'll let you ladies know. :)

Colleen - posted on 01/13/2010

He may be frustrated or just like the feel of it in his mouth. My twins also went through a biting stage. A firm NO would work sometimes but didn't stop them altogether. I then tried a very loud "OUCH, that hurts mommy' and I pretended to cry. This made my one son stop as I think he realised what it meant and had also never seen mommy cry before. My other son however...... I had to resort to biting back before he truely understood that biting was not nice. It was the same with the hot BBQ, he only stayed away from it once he'd managed to touch it and burn himself.... despite my many warnings and distractions to try and prevent that! I guess you have to decode your child for yourself, but start with the gentler options first and leave the 'wicked mommy' tactics for last.

Lisa - posted on 01/13/2010

Never bite back! That makes no sense....the only thing you are teaching them by doing it back is that it's ok for mommy and daddy to bite but not you??? Where's the logic in that? Eye contact and a firm tone telling them no will work. Be patient. Good luck!

Erin - posted on 01/13/2010

My daughter did this. She stopped fairly quickly. I used to just put her straight down on the floor and say "no biting" and walk away a bit as soon as she did it.

Michelle - posted on 01/12/2010

Not true if you bite them back that does not make them want to bite more.. My son is 3 years old and around 1 he would bite my feet all the time out of no where. I would tell him no but that never worked so one day i bit him back lightly and told him see that hurts so don't do that to people and he NEVER did it again

Whitney - posted on 01/12/2010

My boys started that when they were about a year and then again at the age of 2. When they were two I told them no. Then when they were repeating I actually smacked their mouths. Not too hard, but enough to startle them. It worked really well and I haven't had an issue since. My sister-in-law bites them back, but what I have witnessed it doesn't work. Trial and error. I know that it probably sounds harsh what I did, but I promise it was not even close to child abuse.

Kimberly - posted on 01/12/2010

My son was doing this too- the Baby Center Page says to tell them no, that it hurts you and then redirect them. It has seemed to work.

C. - posted on 01/12/2010

My son did that too.. Just keep taking his hand away and telling him No. He will eventually learn. I think my son stopped after a about a month. Good luck!

Dara - posted on 01/12/2010

If it's any help...I was a biter and REMEMBER being a biter...I remember that I liked how skin felt in my teeth and I really didn't think about hurting people? I don't know why I remember? I think I was 3 or 4 when I went thru this phase. And, my aunt cured me of it. I bit her daughter, my cousin who was 1 yr younger than me...and...forever I remember my aunt as big, mean, with HUGE teeth. Yes, she bit me, and demonstrated to me what I wasn't getting which was that biting hurt people...I got it after that...but I was afraid of my aunt and her teeth till...eek...even now!!! ;)

Dorothy - posted on 01/12/2010

immediatly put the kid in timeout and tell them no biting the whole way their while pretending to cry younger children catch on quickly and dont want the mommie or daddy to cry so be persistent . you should notice a change in just a couple of days.my sone and i went through the bitting bit ourselves .

Beth - posted on 01/12/2010

I've found that covering their eyes sometimes helps if they won't release, and if that doesn't work, plug their nose! :)

Beth - posted on 01/12/2010

My son did the same thing about the same age too. I finally got him to curb it by consistently telling him "no bite" as soon as he did it and set him down immediately. It took awhile but, we finally got it!

Firebird - posted on 01/12/2010

The first and only time my daughter bit me I did bite her back. She just latched on really hard and for almost a minute I couldn't get her to let go. But she was almost 4... not 15 months. I didn't bite her back anywhere near as hard as she bit me (she broke skin and made me bleed), just hard enough to let her know that it is unpleasant. Now she knows that biting hurts people and hasn't bitten anyone since. I wouldn't recommend doing it until it's your last resort. I tried everything I could think of, telling her no, it hurts, say ow very loudly holding up a toy to redirect her attention. I even tried prying her mouth off of my arm. She was like a lock jawed pitbull! lol
If anyone here does decide that biting back is their last resort, please keep 2 things in mind: 1. You do not have to bite hard. 2. You do have to bite just hard enough to give them a little pinch, if it's unpleasant, they'll realize that biting hurts, if all you do is put your teeth on their arm but apply no pressure, they'll think it's a game and keep biting.
I would have loved to try the hot sauce thing instead of biting back, I imagine it could work very well but I couldn't get her to let go! lol

Heather - posted on 01/12/2010

I know a lot of moms are saying bite back but you should never bite a child back that young because they don't understand what they are doing. It a developmental thing at that age. Here is a great website that has some good information on what you can do to help your little one stop biting. When i worked in child care we got articles on stuff like this all the time and the one thing that really helps with that age is redirection and with a firm voice saying no. By you biting them back you are just stooping down to your son level and that will show him it okay to do it.
http://www.babycenter.com/404_my-toddler...

Ms. Erin - posted on 01/12/2010

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/reducing-b...



If that doesn't work, you have to "bite" back by pressing your teeth into his arm. Not really biting, but you have to look like you are so he can see your teeth. I had a biter and I went through 4 daycares before we got the problem under control. I thought there MUST be another way ... but biting him back got the message through finally. Sounds rough, sorry. Your child is either a biter or not. I have 3 sons and only 1 was a biter. I expect a bazillion replies to this one! LOL

Melissa - posted on 01/12/2010

Don't ever bite them back, then they think it's ok if your bigger than the other person. And sometimes they think its a game if you do it back. Being firm is the best bet, remember to give them a replacement behavior like a kiss instead, or give them something hard they can bite.

Ashley - posted on 01/12/2010

bite him back? just kidding my daughter did that around the same age.. but we look her right in the eye and told her no thats not nice.. she didnt understand it the first few times but when we saw a pattern of what she would do jsut before she would bite we would stop her in mid bite and tell her no .. she grew out of this very very fast ...hope that helps a bit

Kari - posted on 01/12/2010

My son would bite all the time. When he would bite me, I would lightly bite him back. A few times of getting bit, he quit

Melissa - posted on 01/12/2010

He's probably teething, pull him away and firmly tell him it's not ok, it hurts and that he can only give kisses.

Samantha - posted on 01/12/2010

lol i am having the same problem with my 11 mon old i just look him in the eye and sternly say NO BITING! and he usually cries a little i guess he has stopped biting a little but i really cant find it im my heart to bite the little guy back but i have heard it work. And my parents used to put hot sauce on my brothers toung when he bit it only took 2 times of that before he quit

Heather - posted on 01/12/2010

That is a habit all 15 month olds go through. You need to try and redrict him. If that doesnt help then put him in time out for a minute. They say do time out based on the age.