How do i stop my 1 year old baby biting?

Question

my son is 12mths old and is biting everything and everybody in sight .I have older children and none of them have ever biten to this extent.He got his first tooth at 3mths old and none has 14 !!!!so u can imagine he gives quite a bite, even on occasion drawing blood.Has anyone else been through this and how did they cope with it,i am grateful 4 all advice

Answer 1

this might sound silly but bite it back

Answer 2

i dont think that the idea of biting back is so bad, i know that there are people out there saying that this is not the answer but the ONLY way they will know that it isnt nice is if they know what it feels like themselves. Im not saying that you should bite them hard enough to leave a mark as it only needs to be a warning. Also i would only do that if the child had been told lots of times and wouldnt listen.....
Need to remember that other parents will not like there children being around a child that bites and it will isolate you as mother. But up to you. If you end up finding a method from here or anywhere else that is better then great. Good luck.

Answer 3

Anyone else see the inconsistency here?

(child smacks)
parent: "No hitting!"
(pops child)
(child smacks)
parent: "No hitting!"
(pops child)

Continue like so, ad nauseum, ad infinitum. The child is learning the opposite lesson, folks. Same goes for biting. I can't believe people actually promote BITING a 12 month old baby! It doesn't teach them what it feels like to be bitten! It teaches them that biting is what grown-ups do when they're angry, too.

I have six children. I breastfed all of them past the age of cutting teeth, so I've dealt with biting of all kinds-- playful, aggressive, teething and using my nipple as an accidental chew-toy (ouch!). But all of them can be dealt with simply and gently without resorting to barbaric methods like biting your baby. Heavens' sake!

Here's how I dealt with it--

1. Choose a phrase to use, short but sweet, and stick to it. "No biting!", "Biting hurts!", "We don't bite!", "We bite food, not [name]/people!", are a few examples. Say this every time your child looks like they're even thinking about biting, whatever the reason.

2. Watchfulness and prevention. Teething biters are pretty easy to distract when they start looking "chewy". Give them something cold and soothing to chew on instead of your shoulder, or cousin's finger, etc. Nursing biters are obvious-- a baby can't bite while they're suckling-- their tongue is in the way! So end the feeding (or switch sides) once the baby stops suckling actively. If you do get bitten, try your best (difficult, I *know*!) not to yelp, shout, etc. and just put the baby down for a minute, using your "No biting" phrase. The feeding doesn't have to end there, though. In a minute or two, pick them up, repeat the phrase, and go back to nursing, giving calm reminders and watching closely as the baby feeds. If they seem to be about to bite again, interrupt the feeding once more and place the baby on the floor for another minute or two. They do get the picture pretty darn quickly-- if I want to nurse, I'd better not bite mama's nummies!"

Aggressive biters must be watched carefully for any signs that they are about to bite, and try to separate them from the other child/person before they get a chance to do it. When you think they are about to bite, tell them your "No" phrase and remove them to another area or activity. If they actually bite someone, it's basically the same, only once you remove the biter with JUST the verbal scolding, you go pay tons of attention to the "victim", even if it's another adult. If they've bitten someone, the child is given the cold shoulder for a couple of minutes, maybe repeating the chosen "No biting" phrase once or twice more, so they understand that your displeasure is directly related to the act of biting. No shouting or drama, just a very displeased tone of scolding will do the trick if you apply this consistently.

Honestly though, watchfulness and prevention are key here. The baby is too young to always control their impulses at this age; it is up to the parents to make sure others are safe from the danger of being bitten.

Good luck!

Answer 4

You need to react differently depending on the situation. If he is biting objects, give him teething toy or even just a wet face cloth, kids love to chew and suck on them. If he's biting others during play time or even out of the blue, you need to take him away from the situation by sitting him in his highchair and turning him away from everyone else (facing the wall). After you do this a few times, he will start to realize that when he bites, the others get to continue to play and get your attention while he is sitting all by himself. Even though he is only 1, when you take him out of the highchair after a few minutes, explain to him that teeth are for eating and not for biting siblings or friends. If it gets really, really bad, you could bite him back but watch out because before it gets better, it will get worse after that.

Answer 5

Oh, let me tell you, I went through this with my son....He got a bop on the mouth and sometimes I bit him back. Not hard of course, but so he gets the picture. I would then give him a stuffed animal or a teething ring. It worked, but you have to be constant about it. It took a day and a half with a few slip-ups. It was like training our dog to not chew on our stuff, except for the toys that were his. :) Good Luck

Answer 6

Here's the advice I got from my Parents as Teachers counselor.

When he bites another child focus ALL your attention on the victim, turn your back to "the biter" and make a big fuss about the "booboo." Do the same thing when he bites you. Put him down, turn your back, and focus all the attention on yourself and the booboo. You don't have to call him "bad" or anything, just let him see he's not getting attention for biting.

My daughter would bite me when she was excited. I tried this trick once or twice and she stopped.

Answer 7

I Heard bopping them on the mouth helps, but I didnt do that I just told him no and moved him away from me. Kids sometimes bite because they get a reaction, so just ignore the child when he bites. If he stilll bites give him a teething bisquet or something to chew on.

Answer 8

If your son was older, I'd say bite back; but chances are that he's biting because he's teething. Give him a teething ring or a cold wet washcloth and some tylenol when he starts the biting!

Answer 9

Never bite back....................as if you do your giving the message thats its okay to bite as your the adult role model.

My 2yr old bites and I am working on stopping it myself but I wouldn't worry to much about your 1yr old as he is teething still, give him a bicipeg (you can buy them from boots) or something hard to chew/bite on as its a natural urge to bite at 1yrs and younger.

All i do with my 2yr old is remove from play and sit her on the bottom step for 2 mins, "time out" and I tell her " no bitting" its working but she still has slip ups when excited etc.

But she only bites me not others so I am sure I will solve it soon!!

Answer 10

Give it something to chew on; make sure however he or she does not choke on it. It is perhaps because the teeth come out of flesh and it feels quite itchy sometimes.

Answer 11

My son is 3 yrs old and has been biting for 2 YEARS!
I cry everytime he does it and it is so embarassing. he's been kicked out of 2 daycares.
Anyway, i use a dab of cayenne pepper. People will tell you that is cruel and that it's abuse, but let me tell you I have tried EVERYTHING and I mean everything!!! Nothing has worked. TIme outs, lecturing, ignoring, biting back, spanking, etc.

Whenever he does it a tiny tiny amount of cayenne pepper immediately and just say "no biting." It may sting and he may cry, but you have to nip it in the butt!

Good luck.

p.s. you may not want to use lemon juice because you may turn him off to the flavor of lemons and since it is a popular flavor in foods they may not eat those foods.
with cayenne pepper it doesn't really have a distinct flavor or smell and can't really be identified in foods by flvor only by heat so you don't have to worry about him not eating a lot of foods in the future because he doesn't like cayenne pepper.