My ds ,who will be one in a couple of weeks has three strong teeth and another one coming and he's using them to bite me, I'm not talking about nursing, he's biting into my shoulder and grabbing my clothes with his
teeth. It just started a couple of days ago. When this kid gets a strong "no!" he laughs and does it again .He is starting to learn where the "no's" and are continues to test them, but with the biting I don't have a lot of patience and don't believe I should ever have to punish him with smacking or spanking.Any suggestions would be appreciated.

By Tyaustinsma on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 02:43 pm:

Chloe, My ds used to do the same thing, and NO was just way too funny for him. I used to just pull him off whatever body part he was biting and give him the teether to replace, sooner or later he got it! good luck

By Tonya on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 02:51 pm:

I would bite Timmy back and show him that it hurt. He only did it a few times and saw he didn't like being bit either so he stopped. Good luck. All kids bite some time or another.

By Sunny on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 02:53 pm:

Keep telling him "no biting" in a stern and even tone and then put him down or turn away. If he doesn't continue getting the attention (your reaction) that he usually does, he'll learn that mom means it and should stop. Distraction is another tactic, and either way should work, as long as you're consistent.

By Melanie on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 03:15 pm:

As a Love and Logic parent, I would simply sing the "uh-oh" song. It goes like this. He bites you. You sing (and you have to sing it because when you sing it you have to smile a bit and can't have an angry edge in your voice), "Uh-oh, a little bedroom time". And walk him to his room and put him in his crib. Go back in a few minutes later with a smile on your face and out he comes. He bites again, repeat the process.

You will be amazed how fast he stops biting. Kids are very smart.

By Eve on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 03:39 pm:

Ditto what Melanie said. We've had good luck with that L&L technique. We've used it for problems:hitting the dog and hitting Mommy and so on. We sing "Uh-oh, this is sad!" LOL! It's about simple, loving actions to help teach your child about limits and consequences.

By Kittycat_26 on Friday, November 21, 2003 - 07:55 am:

With Timmy, I think I tried everything in the book. He had more teeth than he knew what to do with by the time he was twelve months old and now at 18 months we got a second set of molars coming in and are going through the biting all over again.

I just set him down and walk away immediately. This mostly stops the immediate behavior but he still came back to biting over and over again.

As time went on and he understood me a little better it is getting easier. Now I think he understands when I say, "no bite."

I keep telling myself that he would be 30 and still running around biting people.

By Mommymindy on Friday, November 21, 2003 - 10:37 am:

He MAY be too young to do the biting back thing, but it does work. You don'y bite the child hard, just a little on the finger justto show that it isn't nice. My daughter bit a little because she just didn't know what to do with her teeth! If your usual tone is pleasant with him all day, then you just get an angry look on your face & say "don't bite, not nice". Then if he bites you like when you are holding him, put him down, in the pack&play or in his bed or somewhere he wouldn't want to be. He WILL get it eventually! Like has been said, babies & young kids are VERY VERY smart! Just because they can't say "Well, since you put it THAT way..." doesn't mean they don't understand. I wouldn't recommend spanking him for something htat small even if you were going to be a spanker. Plus he's too little for that. You would only smack little hands lightly at this time if he didn't respond to "NO" & about to stick finger in light socket or on stove or something!!!

By Chloe on Thursday, November 27, 2003 - 04:44 am:

I really appreciate everyones input. Thank you so much. I will say that I tend to not lean toward biting my child because it seems it would set a bad example.(if you can do it , why can't I ?) I would like to learn more about Love and Logic. It's probably too early to tell but I have just been saying"no bites!" and then ignoring him for a minute and he hasn't done it in a couple days. So far so good. Thanks to everyone.

By Mommymindy on Friday, November 28, 2003 - 01:33 pm:

You're welcome! I agree that you probably shouldn't bite him back at this age because he's too young to understand what you're doing & may even think it is a game!

By Melanie on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 12:26 pm:

Chloe, I've been using Love and Logic on my kids for several years with wonderful results. In a nutshell, it means allowing natural consequences of a child's actions to do the teaching while the parent remains loving and empathetic. Here is the website where you can read more. Check out the articles in particular, to get a feel for what the program is.

http://www.loveandlogic.com/


If you decide to buy a book or tape, definitely go with the Toddler one. Here is the book:
https://www.loveandlogic.com/ecom/Product.aspx?Template=BookAudio&PID=Magic&cat=2

Here is the tape:
https://www.loveandlogic.com/ecom/Product.aspx?Template=BookAudio&PID=Toddlers&cat=2

I have both and I do love them both. I personally enjoy the tape a lot as it is fun to listen to and I can play it over and over while I do other things. It gives real examples that actually happen and real ways to handle it. (Ways that work!)

Eve posted on the board when her daughter was about 15 months old asking for suggestions. I told her about Love and Logic. Now she swears by it. We can both give you stories of how it has worked for us if you want. Suffice to say for now that it is a parent centered, anger free, effective sytle of parenting. I love it. And I highly recommend it.

By Chloe on Monday, December 1, 2003 - 02:52 pm:

Thanks Melanie, I looked at the site and I was put off at first because it is founded by three men . But reading a bit of the philosophy, it seems very helpful, perhaps also for the daddy people, who (like my ds) can be more quick to scold or yell, and scare the child. I ordered the toddler cd which was kind of expensive but it will be my Christmas present. I can listen to it while I'm hanging aroung the house, or in the car. (no time to read much more than a coupon)
Thanks again.