Advice needed.. - biting already

holley79 wrote: I was in the kitchen just a min ago. Annika was standing beside the dishwasher holding a bowl. (Clean of course.) Annika went to grab at a knife in the dishwasher rack thingy. I grabbed her hand adn told her NO! SHARP. She totally looked up at me, looked at my hand holding her hand and bit my arm. I was totally in shock. She has never done this before. She is still an only child so I know she didn't "learn" it from someone.

Any suggestions on how to nip this in the bud?

1lilpeanut2love replied: My Kaylee was doing this. I think it's a phase that WILL phase. Their lil bites hurt, don't they. Good Luck!

mckayleesmom replied: I always pat their mouth with my hand to let them know what Im referring to and say "no biting". Eventually they realize that you are talking about what they did with their mouth.

Our Lil' Family replied: Welcome to the biters club! I think mostly it is because they do not know how to communicate their feelings/frustrations. Thomas has been doing it for a long time now and I'm just patiently waiting for him to stop! I do pop his mouth and sternly tell him no biting but he forgets and does it again a few days later.

Sorry I'm not much help!

C&K*s Mommie replied: No advice really, but to stay consistent with the stern "no's!". She will learn that biting is not acceptable.

Boo&BugsMom replied: I know I'm the minority here, but where Tanner bit, I bit him back (oh, for shame! ). Anyone can say "it sends mixed signals" (I don't buy the new age ways of discipline) but it stopped instantly and worked. So, at daycare while other moms were still complaining about their children still biting and thinking the biting back makes it worse, I just smiled while my child didn't bite anymore. Funny how it never went away for them as fast as it did Tanner, some of them, it took more than a year...these were all toddlers. This is when Tanner was about 18 months or so. He was very verbal by this time so for him it was not a communication issue. He was acting out on impulse, and his first impulse was the bite, knowing full well he was hurting someone. After taking care of it, I can count on only one hand how many times he has bit and hasn't bit sense.

Anways...

Whatever you do, just be consistant and let her know it's not ok. She's still young yet so it most likely is a communication issue. She doesn't know she's hurting anyone right now. She's trying to get her frustrations out. She knows what she wants to "say" but can't say it yet to solve her problems. Problem solving is a huge issue at this age until they can fully communicate. Hopefully with consistancy at her early age it will subside and not get worse as she gets older.

holley79 replied: Thanks ladies. I will see what happens.

My mom bit me back also and it stopped immediately. Maybe this is me getting paid back.

mckayleesmom replied: My mom bit back too and we never bit anymore.

boyohboyohboy replied: my mom bit us too.

i dont think i could that.
so good luck

Boo&BugsMom replied:
I screwed up in my wording and wanted to redo it, but can't, so I'll quote myself instead. I meant to say: "after the fact, he never bit again, and all the times he did bite total before that were able to be counted on one hand". Unlike the others whose parents refused to do anything but redirection and lost track after a few months of continued biting.

There...sorry for the confusion. The original way I said it made it seem like he bite again afterwards, which was not the case.

Holley, it's funny how some things come back to haunt you when you have your own kids. There have been a few instances where this has occured and my mom and dad only laugh at me and say "what comes around goes around!". Sigh!

Boo&BugsMom replied:
When I was about 2, maybe about 18-20 months, I bit my dad in the crotch. Yep! He was NOT happy about it. They bit me back. Boy did I learn my lesson. So did my dad...cover and duck when a chomping toddler is coming at you!

mckayleesmom replied: Mckaylee bit Leithans toe really hard one time... , The reason I haven't bit either of my children back is because they rarely bite at all......That is the one problem we don't have with them.....

mom2my2cuties replied:


OH that was just too funny

holley79 replied:
It is funny what goes around comes around.

When I was about 18 months old my mom was cooking pudding on the stove. I came up behind her and bit her on the bum then dropped. I was lucky she didn't drop the hot pudding on my head. That was when she bit me back adn I never did it again. Man if Annika does that I'm in trouble. I have plenty of bum for her to grab onto.