Biting when Happy/Excited

[Twin Sister]

I've been reading through some past biting threads but none of the ones I read seem to apply to me, and I desperately need some help.

My 15m old daughter is a biter, and it is driving me crazy. She does not bite when she is angry or frustrated, she bites when she is happy or excited, or sometimes even when she is relaxing. It is almost always me that she bites though she has gotten her 4 year old brother a few times, and she always bites hard enough to break the skin and cause bleeding. It hurts and therefore makes me mad and I feel awful being mad at her. I have no idea how to stop her. Right now I give an exaggerated scream to let her know she has hurt me and I tell her "no biting, that hurts" and I put her down and walk away. I ignore her for 5 minutes and then show her where she bit me and tell her again that biting hurts. She still bites me pretty much every day.

Any tips to get her to stop would be greatly appreciated.

[Twin Sister]

The only advice anyone seems to have is to bite her back and I don't agree with that.

[KitFaerie]

I've never been in that situation, but if she's biting when excited maybe you could talk about other things you do when your excited? Maybe a silly dance/clap hands/cheer? And then next time something good happens make a big deal out of doing the silly dance together? If she bites maybe just calmly ask what we do instead of biting, because biting hurts and isn't respectful. I think your doing a great job in a tough situation!

[Plinky]

My son went through this phase around the same time. It was only when he was giggly/excited that he would ever bite (usually me!). But it is just a phase, he is now 23 months old and no longer bites. I didn't really do anything different than what you are doing too...I didn't agree with biting back, and I couldnt' get angry at him since he was only 'playing'. I just firmly told him "no biting", and walked away. She will stop eventually

[Alana]

Don't worry it's pretty normal I think. I teach 5 year olds and they often bite even at that age when they are excited as a way of expressing themselves. Even at that older age they don't have the cognitive ability to understand how to express excitement or anger. You could try to divert the excitement with a clap like the previous comment said - but she will grow out of it eventually Make sure she knows she doesn't get attention for bad behaviour - only good behaviour... It's a hard one though. Good luck to you!