Biting

[Michellelynn219]

My 14 month old has been biting me when he gets frustrated since he was 7 months old. Now that he is getting older I don't think it's cute anymore. I don't want to hit him. When I do try to discipline him he laughs and thinks it's a game. Any advice on how to stop him.

[Lollyellen]

Well, when I was teaching preschool (which I have been off and on since college), we'd offer them a "substitute" - some parents even clip on (with a paci-clip) a "teething toy" and we directed them to bite that instead of their "friends" when they'd get frustrated. Say something simple like, " We don't bite our friends - or NO NO BITING MOMMY - Bite THIS instead."

If that fails, you could always do what Supernanny does - find a spot to put them that takes them away from the action whenever they bite. At least that way, they'd learn that biting=missing out on the fun/action.

From my experience, biting seems to stem from not having sophisticated enough verbal skills to deal with frustration, so anything you can do that would "get through" to your particular child on that wavelength is worth a try!

[Michellelynn219]

I agree with everything that you said and I since watching Super Nanny (Love that show) I have tried many of her techniques. Unfortunately I think he is still too young to understand what the heck I am trying to enforce and he thinks everything is so so funny. LOL. He is getting better with the biting since he has been given more freedom to run around the house. Thank you for your reply :-)

TTFN

[BMerrill]

i remember just saying "no biting" sternly and setting her down. (since the bite usually occurred when I was holding her).