My 11 month old has taken to biting us. Now that he has 8 teeth it really hurts as sometimes he bites hard.
I'm looking for suggestions in what to do about this. I know it's normal for him to starting testing things out but I'm not sure if at his age I ignore it when he bites me and pretend it didn't happen (hard to do because it's usually a shock and it really hurts too) or do I look him in the eye and tell him that it hurts Mummy and not to bite? I know he is too little to understand what I'm saying but I'm sure that some of what I say registers with him because my tone is different.
Or is there something else I should be doing instead?
Not that I have any kids of my own..... and I've only seen what a good friend of mine did for her 10m.o. She doesnt smack, but dont know if she follows "gentle parenting" or not. When ever her bub bit, she would quickly, sternly and with a slightly louder voice, say "NO" then pick him up and put him away from her, on the floor on a playmat etc, just away from her. He didnt like that much and made the association in about a week. I dont think there has been a problem since..... thank god! I was only on the receiving end once, and that was enough!
Dont know if this method might backfire later....... wonder whether hes going to be one of those kids that always say "no" to everything...... cant wait to see her solution to that
Time! I've had a biter from, I think, soon after 12 mths (hardcore from around 18mths to about 2 1/2 yrs). I tried a number of things:
Saying "stop no biting; that hurts mummy"
Moving away from ds
No reacting
Time out (at cc - time away from other children)
Trying to figure out what was ds' trigger (still unknown apart from when he was tired sometimes)
Teethers/ chilled chewable items
Spray of water on face to shock (when ds was about 8mths and pre-verbal)
Small groups of about 3 children with him at cc and a staff member
Shadowing him by a staff member at cc (so he was not by himself with other children at cc.
(I refused to bite ds back as was suggested a number of times to me)
My problem with my biter was he really only bit at home when teething or tired and we'd missed earlier sleep cues. He was biting a fair bit at child care so that was hard to deal with as they couldn't find a trigger (not provoked all the time).
My son started at around 11 months. In hindsight he mainly did it because it got a reaction and he thought it was funny. It was always on my neck. I thought I was getting a cuddle and ow! We didn't react, which is hard as it bloody hurts. It lessened then stopped after a few months.
Then he started again at 18 months and I'm hoping it's now under control. But that's another thread for another time.
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11 Month Old Biting
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