How do you teach a 20 month old baby not to bite, without any sort of corporal punishment?

Answer 1

They're biting out of frustration. When my son was teo, he was very stressed out because of our custody case and when I told him he couldn't do something, he bit me. I knew he was frustrated, so I resisted the urge to hit him and gave him a hug and told him I loved him and said, "It's Ok." He never bit me again after that. I think he just needed that extra love.

Answer 2

I could not have said it better myself than the first answer. A 20 month old child DOES understand no - they are supposed to understand no by age 1. Even a 20 month old knows that biting is wrong. I always put my kids in a timeout for unsocial behaviour - biting or kicking. I tell that that if they cant behave with other people, they have to be on their until they can behave among other people. Be consistent! good luck.

Answer 3

Well, I'll tell you what has worked for my four kids. It also works for spitting and swearing, and really any other innappropriate "mouth" behavior.

The first offense gets a warning that the second offense will result in the following response.

I get one drop of dishsoap and put it in their mouth. They must hold it in their mouth for a few seconds (long enough for it to have the desired effect), then they are allowed to spit it in the sink, get a drink, etc.

After they've calmed down, I explain that there are things our mouth is for and things it's NOT for. It's for eating and drinking good things, talking (nicely), and kissing, and that's about it.

Biting people, furniture, etc. is yucky and NOT what we use our mouth for, so we will "wash" it with soap if we bite things we shouldn't.

We only spit when we have something yucky in our mouths, not because we "feel like it". And then, only in a sink or a tissue. The soap reminds us what "yucky" IS.

When we swear or say things that HURT people, that is just as harmful (or maybe even more so) than biting people. We will "wash" those bad words out to remind us the next time not to use those words.

Now, I know soap is NOT good to for kids to eat, but I am talking about ONE drop, and they certainly don't want to swallow it, anyway. This method also doesn't involve yelling or hitting. If the mouth offends, the mouth gets the punishment.

I think it's less extreme than what MY mom used to do. She actually WASHED my mouth with a soapy washcloth. However, I must point out that that worked, too. I was sure to watch what I said after that. :)

Answer 4

You will have to remove this child from the situation, and firmly tell them No, and BRIEFLY explain that biting is unacceptable and it hurts. Then put the child in time out for 2 minutes using a timer, and make them apologize to the person they bit and promise to try not to do it anymore. When talking to the child, get down on their eye level, and don't raise your voice, that will only scare them.

Answer 5

you don't have to hit your child to get your point across but a baby that age will have no idea what your talking about if you say no no no so i'm sorry but your going to have to inflict a little pain if you tell a baby his or her age that if you touch that oven it will burn you they will do it any way when it burn them they will catch that heat and not dare do it again because they didn't like the reaction if you laugh or make it seem like its ok when he bites you he's not going to relate that its wrong for him to bite. so if you have to swap his little hand do it. it won't kill him but i he will think twice about biting you again

Answer 6

you have to make your child look you in your eye and tell him "dont bite" make sure you say it about three or four times, and make sure he or she is looking you in the eye, everytime he does it make sure you repeat the same thing over and over again.i know you dont want to use any corpal punishment, but try biting him back to show him how much it hurts.he doesnt think he is hurting anyone, and trust me the first time you show him how much it hurts him then he wont do it again.good luck.

Answer 7

i have an 18 month old and she bites like crazy! i just get down to her level (eye to eye) and tell her firmly (not yelling) NO. and she stops. she knows that im serious because she always looks away like shes innocent.

Answer 8

bite him back- he'll never do it again. Right now, he knows it gets a reaction, but doesn't know how it feels. He will know how it feels if you bite him back.

Answer 9

you don't have to beat your child. its really easy to say no and slap their hand just enough to where it is uncomfortable. thats all my parents ever did and it worked with 4 kids a total of 4 years apart.