Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Biting Child.
My son is turning into a horrible biter. He used to only bite my husband and me but he has started to bite other people and children included. It is driving me crazy. I have read some different literature on biting and it's not because he is hungry or even angry, which is what they suggest. It is always random. I do not know what to do. I have tried flicking his mouth and putting him in his bed but it is not working. He almost made me bleed from biting me yesterday and I have a bad bruise. I don't know what to do to make this stop! I need help and suggestions. Has anyone been through this before?
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6 comments:
I have no experience with this but I've heard that it works for you as the mom to like bite his finger or something so he knows what it feels like. I'm not into making my child hurt, but with a problem like this, you may want to consider this strategy. One time may do it! I don't think flicking his mouth is enough. Sometimes when saying no about something doesn't seem to be enough for me with my child, I hold onto her arm with a firm grip and look her straight in the eye so she realizes I'm serious about the situation. It definitely doesn't hurt her, but it gets her attention.
My little one doesn't bite either but my brother did big time! I remember them telling us that he was seeking. Either seeking the attention (negative or positive, it's still attention) or seeking the stimulation of having something in his teeth (like sensory seeking). We actually sprayed listerine in his mouth every time he'd do it and ignored the attention seeking bites. We'd hold him in our laps but not look at him so he would be stopped from continuing but wouldn't get the feedback of us yelling at him or crying. for the sensory, we tried to make sure his mouth had that deep sensory input in more functional ways like food, chewy toys, etc. Good luck, biting is not fun!
I would probably hit their mouth very hard mostly as a reaction to the pain...but if it was persistent there would need to be a delicate balance between discipline and negative attention/big reaction...b/c baby sees...oh, if I do this I get a HUGE reaction and lots of attention, even if it's negative.
Good luck.
My littlest sis and I were both biters. I bit kids in nursery and she repeatedly bit her older brother on his spine....(big ouch). Now that we are both adults, I just wanted to let you know that we no longer bite nor feel the urge to. We turned out ok.
We had a problem with my son for about a week, but we were really concerned because he was going into nursery soon and we were horrified with the idea of him biting other children. I called my mom and she suggested biting his arm so that he would understand how it felt. So that night my husband and I sat down with him and explained to him that it hurt us and bit him softly. He hasn't bitten us since, so I guess it worked. Make sure though that you don't bite them when you are mad because I think it shows to bite out of anger.
I was looking for quiet book ideas and I fond your blog...You don't know me, I'm from Chile, but we have the same problem. My older boy was a porfessional biter, every sunday before going to church I was terrified to enter to nursery with him, all the girls run away when see him arrive. (sorry by my english, spnish it's my language). And I can testify that if you bite him it's going to be worst. He's going to believe that it's right to bite when you want to do it, because mom do taht too. Every kid it's different, but maybe this can works with yours. I decided to enter to the nursery with him, and every time hi tries to bite someone I took in my arms and left the room with him, he start to cry and hit me, and I explained him that no biting child there aloud to attend in nursery, and he loved to be there, so after a few weeks, he stopped to do it. Was a tired process, and sometimes I just don't want to church because was extremaly stressing, but now it's totally different, I don't know for how long, becuase my yongest boy it's a biting child too!!!!
Be patient he's groing up very soon.
Johanna Ureta
Santiago de Chile
Thanks everyone for your help. I am going to try some of your suggestions.
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