My 10month son old bites. What can I do to stop it?

Answer 1

Bite him back. I'm serious; not enough to draw blood or anything, but he needs to know what it feels like so that he'll stop.

Answer 2

I cannot believe there are people telling you to bite back. First of all, your mouth contains a massive amount of bacteria, thats why if skin is ever broke when someone is bit that person should go to the doctors right away, they'll need to be put on antibyotics to be on the safe side. Besides when you punish biting with biting what are you actually teaching your child? At this age he is not biting to be mean, he is probably biting because it feels good, skin feels good on a childs gums. When your son bites he probably doesn't do it in a sneaky matter, he probably goes head first mouth open giving you time to react before he gets his target. With him only being 10 months redirection works great at this age, head him off before he even gets a chance to bite. Also something that may work is giving him a clean wet wash cloth to chew on, it will feel nice on the gums as well.

Answer 3

Do you know why he is biting? At 10 months is he biting because he is teething and bites everything? Biting because he is angry and cannot talk? Biting because he is playing and doesn't realize it is hurting?

If he is teething then you need to provide him with something constantly to help his gums. Frozen bagels, teething rings, cold washcloth...and also put some medicine on the gums, give him tylenol or the teething tablets. Teething hurts.

If he is angry then he needs to learn quickly that you are upset. You need to immediately very firmly put him down and on his bottom away from the area you are so he realizes he has been removed from the situation. You need to clearly say in a low, firm voice, NO BITING, BITING HURTS, and put your fingers on his teeth. Tell him again and walk away. Stay calm, very firm, and let him know you are angry. After a minute come back and say, "NO BITING" again and then play again.

If he keeps it up then you might have to start smacking his hand or his bottom lightly to get him to realize that it isn't allowed.

Many times children in a daycare will stop biting after they have been bit. I am not a fan of parents who bite their children back to show them it hurts but it does work apparently. I personally wouldn't try it...

Good Luck. SD

Answer 4

We bought our son a book called "Teeth are not for biting" at Borders. It really helped us. The book does say not to bite them back because it send the confusing message that biting is okay in some situations. At this age they are biting everything!! Make sure he has some soft things to chew on. Good luck!!

Answer 5

My son used to do this, I bit him back a few times and he stopped. I think its just a way to get some attention. Also my son was not 10 months old he was 2 years old. He is just teething, get him some cool teething rings the kind you put in the refrigerator, that should satisfy his urge to bite

Answer 6

My son when through a phase, around 14 month old, when he was biting everyday. It was very frustrating for me, the daycare and the parents of children who were getting bit, so I know what you're going through. He's an only child and never bit at home so I was sort of at a loss for what to do while he was in daycare. We collectively came up with a plan to firmly tell him no biting when he bit and quickly put him in a play pen with no toys for one minute, then we he came out we'd say "biting hurts your friends, your teeth are not for biting." and the child who was bitten was given lots of attention and care immediatly. This did help, but eventually I ended up becoming very unhappy with the daycare and pulling him out. At his new daycare, he's bitten once in five months, and that was when another child bit him first-I'm not condoning this, for the record. If your child is in a daycare situation, look closely at the center. I truly believe it was a combo of my son being a normal toddler whose exploring his world and frustrated by his inability to communicate and being stressed out by an over crowded crappy day care. The change in his behavior was directly corelated with changing day care centers, and before people get all upitty on their high horses, I did closely check out the daycare before enrolling him, but there was staff turnover and unhappy employees whose negative attitudes rubbed off on the children. Ok, I'm rambling. As far as the people who say you should bite back, that could become a heated debate, so I'll just say this, our children mimick our behaviors. See your child wear your shoes, copy your facial expressions...all that...? What do you expect children to think when their parents bite? Biting is a normal, but frustrating part of childhood for a lot of kids, but they all grow out of it. Don't let someone else make you feel like a bad parent, do what you can, but be consistent. Good luck.

Answer 7

nothing! no, joking, my 11 month old bites too. i just keep my fingers away from her and give her lots of chew toys but she still will come up to us and chomp down on any available body part. we just say no and ouch and then she will stop but then do it again another time. thank goodness she doesnt when she is breastfeeding.i am a little horrified by other peoples answers. he is 10 mon. old for goodness sakes! do not slap,hit or bite him back! and she is being a parent,she just wants peoples opinions as to what they think would work!

Answer 8

As mom to 3 and aunt to 12, the one thing that always worked was biting them back. Leave a mark on them. They soon realize it's not as fun as they first thought. The only other thing that worked for our bunch was to put pepper on their tongue. The biting them back worked best. It seems cruel but it gets the point across.

Answer 9

My son is 17 months and also going through the biting stage I think they out grow it. I have not bitten anyone in a while

Answer 10

I don't believe you should ever bite back! This is an infant - that is going through an 'investigating' period - putting everything in their mouths and exploring things..... You can discourage biting by diverting his attention - handing him a toy.... clapping you hands to take his attention away from biting - or saying "no" when he does it.

Maybe he needs to chew..... you might try a wet washcloth - maybe it would feel good....

Answer 11

There are some kids who bite. My son liked to hit. The peditrician told me to put him in a playpen with no toys when he behaved in such a fashion. Not to long but long enough for him to associate that bitting equals playpen. 3 times in the playpen for about 30 seconds to a minute and he didn't hit again.