What do you do when your toddler one-year old hits and bites?

Answer 1

Time out! Explain to him what he has done wrong(do not yell) then give him a time out. Be consistent and give him a time out for each offense. He will learn quickly.

Answer 2

Look it's not as dramatic and emotionally deep as you might think in fact it's actually quite a common phase that toddlers go through, it can be embarrasing though and harmfull to others.
Let the child no in a firm voice that that behaviour is wrong and will not be toleratet, if the child persists and does it again introduce the "time out spot" it is very effective, make sure the child recognises what he/she has done wrong and sit them there for a short time, about a minute, then to finish remind the child why he/she is there and ask for an "apology hug".
remember to be persistant and consistant and don't let that child get away with hitting or biting ever!

Answer 3

There are a few things to keep in mind:

--Figure out why the baby is doing this...Is the baby hitting and biting out of anger or frustration? For attention (even negative attention is still attention)? Or could he be cutting more teeth? Once you find the reason, you can find alternate ways to help him/her.

--I did the following with my kids and hitting & biting never became an issue, so it must have worked:

If you can pinpoint ahead of time which situations trigger the bad behavior, remind the baby beforehand by saying, "Hugs and kisses only"...whatever you do, DON'T SAY "no hitting" or "no biting" because when the baby hears the words "bite" or "hit", he is more inclined to do those actions...if you say "hugs" and "kisses", he's more likely to do those actions. Be sure to give lots of positive reinforcement when he behaves well.
--Be consistent...Babies need consistency in order to learn the rules.

Good luck to you & your little one!

Answer 4

I have had this problem with both my kids and i alsways bit them back so that they would understand that what they were doing hurt. Being that young they do not really understand waht they are doing and how it affects others. By showing them they can grasp that and realize "oh, biting hurts". If you do it just enough that they feel a little bit of pain but not to bite them hard and leave a mark they should understand and not do it anymore. Sometimes it takes a couple of times but when you see them bite someone that is when you bite them so they know what happened. You cant bite them hours after it happened and expect them to understand what happened they will just think that they are in trouble

Answer 5

Babies this age still have a hard time expressing themselves. Esp. anger and frustration. The best thing to do at this age is take the child away from the situation and calmly say, "no no, that makes boo-boo's" Most one year olds understand the term "boo-boo" as they relate it to something that hurts. Be consistant. See if you can't figure out what is stressing him/her to the point of hitting and biting. Then see if you can't find a solution. When my oldest son was that age, he started biting. He was in pain. I figured out that he was teething, cutting a molar. Once I figured out why he was biting and done something about it (I found that pop cycles done the trick) he didn't do it anymore. Hope that this helps!!!

Answer 6

Give him a clear indication each and every time that what he's doing is unacceptable. He may or may not fully understand everything you're saying when you explain, but a firm and disapproving tone of voice will be enough to give him the right signals.

When my nephew was that age and sometimes hit other kids, she would tell him that he was giving other people ow-ees. She'd say something like, "Remember that ow-ee you got yesterday when you hurt your toe? If you hit Bryan, you're giving him an ow-ee too, and it doesn't feel nice, does it?"

Toddlers at that age are starting to develop empathy, so sometimes this tactic helps when you place them in others' shoes. And teaching a kid is all about repetition and consistency, so don't feel like a nag if you keep repeating yourself to your kid.

Answer 7

A one year old hits and bites in an attempt to communicate because he doesn't have a lot of words yet.

Work to prevent hitting and biting....."head him off at the pass" so to speak. Look for situations where he is likely to use his teeth or hands and step in BEFORE he can do it. Use words to explain to him what he is feeling so that he can learn to do the same.

PREVENTION is the key here, so you can teach him the proper behavior in place of his instinct.

And for God's sake, DO NOT bite him back. Who is the parent here? How is that teaching proper behavior?

Answer 8

First explain the emotion he's feeling... like if he's hitting and biting because he's not getting his way. Then name the emotion and explain that it's not right to hit or bite, but you understand that he's frustrated or angry and that's ok to feel that way. But the hitting and biting are not ok and if they don't stop then yes give a time out. My daughter was doing a lot of hitting and I spoke w/ my friend who is a child dr. who told me it's important to name the emotion because a 1yr can't tell you they're feeling frustrated or angry, so they hit or bite instead. It's perfectly normal.

Answer 9

What you do is seriously get a grip of it because its the rocky road to deeper problems. All he is doing is a normal stage of development, where he is testing who he is and who everyone else is. Be firm, say no and keep clear boundaries for him, so that he knows that hurting someone else is not correct, tell him no, it hurts mummy.
Dont be angry with him though, because he doesnt yet know wrong from right, thats your JOB as a parent. You agreed to do this job when you gave birth so off you go, get on with it, its the hardest job in the world. Good luck

Answer 10

My mother would say if a baby bits you bit him back so he will understand what it feel likes and he will stop.

Dr Phil would say not to do that that is bad and will make things worse.

I say when he/she bits or hits you and is only and since you really can not explain that much to a 1 year old. You look at him and say very clearly NO!!!

Then take him/her from what they were doing and move them. Maybe after awhile they will understand.

Good Luck

Answer 11

I have to agree with Susan C

Let him know in a firm voice that biting is a big NO!

I used to make my sons take care of the ouie that they made on their victim

breathe this too shall pass