My daughter is 13 1/2 months old. I have recently started to have a biting problem with her. She doesn't bite (or even try to bite) other kids or adults, but she does bite me. In the past five days she has bitten me four times on the same spot. That spot is pretty sore and bruised now. I don't know why she is doing it or how to make her stop. I know biting her back is not the answer. I've been tapping my finger on her lips telling her no no, but obviously that is not working. Helpl...my shoulder can't take anymore biting.
Thanks you everyone for your input. My daughter has only tried to bite me once since I posted this. I caught her before she got me, thank goodness. My husband and I figured out that she is doing it when she is tired. This time we told her no, tapped our fingers on her mouth, and put her to bed. She went right to sleep! The problem isn't quite fixed, but at least we know when to watch for it.
Hi C.,
My nephew went through the same thing, I don't know if you have read any of Dr.Sears writings, but maybe his website might help...... http://www.askdrsears.com/html/6/t063900.asp
good luck and please remember this phase will pass.
C.
My son went through that too. I think the early the better. You don't want a biting 3 year old afterall.
My advice is to overact being hurt when she bites. Act like you're crying and make a big deal about it. She doesn't want to see you hurt and crying so she'll stop. Also, say "no biting" and set her away from you for a minute. If she gets upset let her cry for a moment before you comfort her. Expect repeat lessons until it sinks into her memory. It worked for my son.
Negative reenforcements like biting back and harsh scolding are counter productive at this age.
E.
OK... this would be my approach. If it's correct or not. :-) I'd put some horrible smelling perfume (or alcohol, wiskey, anything nasty tasing) on my bare shoulder and LET her bite me. Nor would I react when she did it! I'd just set her down on the floor and walk away (as long as area is safe for her, of course) SAYING NOTHING! She is trying to get you worked up.
So... make your shoulder taste HORRID and IGNORE her once she does it. She WILL out grow this!
Good luck... hope your shoulder gets better soon.
At that age, I think it's more of doing something to see how you respond. For Kaylee at that age when she would hit or whatever, the thing that seemed to work the best, was to cry(it was fake of coarse, but make it believable). As you cry, say no baby, that hurts Mommy. You don't want to hurt Mommy do you? And don't worry, that stage seemed short lived.
My son was conditioned into a biter through treatment he received at day care and the only thing that eventually worked was a handslap and firm "no!" consistently whenever it happened. It took about a month, but he stopped. She may be teething and find that your clavical or shoulder or whatever she's biting is just perfect for relieving the pain...lucky mom :)
You may want to start with pulling her off of you and setting her down without any emotion, dropping your voice, and firmly saying no, and walking away ignoring her pleas for your attention. If that doesn't work, perhaps then trying a that plus a handslap...
let us know what finally works!
I know this might sound harsh, but you might need to take her by the arm hard enough to starttle her when you say "no". She's old enough to have a good handle on language so you can add that it hurts that it's wrong and that she;s not to do it again or she will be punished (follow through). Also make sure you have an angry face when you say it, she will respond better, if your face is sort of blah when you correct her she woun't take you seriously.
I don't know if it is the same, but my 9 month old also only bites me. However, he only does this when he is hungry and he is breastfed so for me that makes sense. He bites my cheek when he is hungry. I don't know though if you are the only one feeding him.
Wow, I have a similar problem. . . My daughter is 12 mos and she has a hitting problem. Maybe you can give what I am doing a try. She LOVES for me to hold her and play with her, but sometimes she gets rough and hits my face pretty hard. I am sure she thinks it is GREAT fun, but it HURTS. I tried saying no. I've tried tapping her leg a little and telling her no, but none of that phased her. So. . . I started putting her down and walking away from her. That REALLY hurt her feelings. She crys and pulls at my pants to pick her up and I say "No, mommy says no hitting. If you are going to hit mommy will NOT hold you." She still does it from time to time. . .but it has gotten less. Good luck. I know it is HARD to find the right trick to make them stop. They don't quite understand "NO" at this age and that is hard.
Recently I heard of someone putting a dab of hotsauce (just enough for themt to get the picture) in the child's mouth after biting...and telling them a firm no, biting hurts. So don't know if you would want to try that or not...but it seems like it might work...
