How do I get my 2 year old daughter to stop biting my 2 week old son? IS this just a phase shes going through

Question

My 2 year old never bit anyone until my son came home from the hospitol the other day, she would hold him and kiss him on his head and then bite him on the finger. Since that day she has been biting kids in her sunday school class. Is this just a phase or will this be something that will continue for sometime?

Answer 1

bite her back she must learn it hurts.when she does she will stop.you must protect your baby and let her know she has no right to hurt other people.if that doesnt work spank her butt it is sometimes necesary people need to know it is their right and duty to disipline their kids.good luck.nobody likes a brat.

Answer 2

I used to teach the two-year olds at my preschool. This is an age where they love to bite. She's trying to get your attention, and releasing some anger when she bites. She needs to be made to understand that biting is not nice. Punish her in the same way each time she bites (two minutes in time out is an appropriate punishment for a two year old) Talk to the Sunday school teacher as well, hopefully, you can get him/her to use the same punishment as well. Give her as much attention as you can when she does good things. (nice works much better at this age) In the meantime, don't let her hold the baby or be alone with him. She can help out in other ways if she wants to. She can entertain him while you change his diaper or be in charge of handing you diapers. A lot can be done by making her feel that she is important and that she has a job to take care of the baby too.

Answer 3

My little boy went through that phase and what I did was distracted him or gave him no reaction.

I know it is hard to not react when they sink their teeth into you but toddlers like the reaction even if it is a negative one.

Because she is so young and teething, you can nip it in the bud by not paying attention to it and it will eventually go away.

Just pick her up and put her infront of some toys, give her a teething toy or a snack.


Never bite back.
Doing so is as pointless as it is painful.

A child this age isn't capable of truly putting themselves in another's shoes, so they can't yet see the connection between what they do and what's done to them. It is called cause and effect.

Young toddlers always do most of their social learning by following their parents' example, so biting your child or inflicting pain by smacking or hitting just sets a bad example.

They can't learn that biting isn't okay if the parent does it too right people above...
It is a phase that will soon pass.
Congradulations on your new baby!

Answer 4

Well, it's common, but it's certainly not "just a phase" that you just kind of don't make a big deal about and hope it goes away.

The way you describe it, first make sure she understands that biting is bad. It sounds like it's almost lovey-dovey sweet older sister BITE YOUR FINGER. Get on her level, away from the baby, look her in the face, and tell her that biting is ugly behavior, and she needs to love her brother and her friends and use nice touches. Make sure she understands that hugs, kisses, cuddles, pats, etc. are nice touches, and hitting, biting, pushing, pinching, etc. are ugly touches. I guess I'm kind of wondering if she knows kisses are nice, and biting and kisses are fairly close.

Anyway, I would do that BEFORE she bites again. Make sure she knows it's wrong. After that, every single time she bites, get on her level, tell her "No biting! That hurts! We use nice touches", and put her in time out. After she gets out, get on her level again, repeat in a softer tone the fact that she's not to bite, it hurts, she needs to love her brother, and she needs to use nice touches, and show her what nice touches are.

Also, since your daughter's victim is a completely defenseless newborn, you should limit physical contact between the two siblings to when you or another adult is holding the baby, and preferably hold the baby's hands, or have him swaddled, so that she doesn't have access to the body part she bites.

If you're consistant about being firm, telling her that biting hurts (and don't say "that", say "biting", to give a name to the behavior), telling her to use nice touches, showing her what nice touches are, and putting her in time out, it won't be long before the biting will probably wan.

Also, when she does get to be close to him and touch him (with your extreme supervision), and she is good and gentle with him, praise her.

Good luck!


EDIT: I must comment on the answer before mine. If she were biting you, or even another toddler or older child, that would be one thing. However, you should NOT ignore the older child's behavior (putting her in front of toys or giving her a snack, which often translates into a reward for young toddlers) when she's hurting your other child. You have an obligation to keep your infant safe. Plus, "common" and "normal" do not always mean "okay" or "acceptable." It's normal, but behaviors like that don't always just quit on their own.

Answer 5

My 2-year-old son has just recently started biting as well. He does it when he and the rest of my family are all play wrestling and tickling. I think he just gets overly excited. (I know, that isn't helping answer you question but I wanted to give you some background...) So, we usually see it coming, and we just STOP what we are doing and very loudly tell him NO!!!
So, I was telling this wise mom that goes to our church about it and she told me her daughter, (who is the nicest, sweetest college age person you'd ever want to meet,) bit her her two week old baby brother when she was two-years-old! She was sitting next to her brother in the back seat and when Mom heard screaming she turned around and saw her daughter biting the baby's finger hard enough to make him bleed. The reason I tell you this is because I want to reassure you that even the sweetest people were once NORMAL toddlers!
By all means, protect your infant, but remember, this is a stage and it will pass! Good Luck Mom!

Answer 6

geez these people's anwers, they have the right idea but sound like morons. Anyways, my daughter is 18 months old and i have a lil boy on the way. My daughter tries to bite when she gets upset, and i've been feverishly working with her, on NO biting. i just tell her VERY firmly NO. She listens most of the time, so I hope she will grow out of it soon. Pretty much just be aware that she may do this when your both w/ the baby. If you see her going to bite, you just say her name and say NO, no biting. Tell her she will give the baby an owie. My daughter definately understands what an owie is, and she feels bad if she bites and gives us an owie. So just try different things, something is bound to work.

Answer 7

Most kids go threw a biting stage..U just have to talk to them and let them know its wrong. My daughter picked up biting from daycare when she was 1 b/c there was this one child that kept biting her everyday so I told the daycare teacher to please do something about this..My daughter would get mad at me and bite me on the arm..Well this happened only once b/c I bit her back and she hasnt done it since..(U dont bite hard just enough to let her know it dont feel good) I also told her that if someone bites her for her to bite them back..Well a couple of days later, she had bit the child back at daycare that bit her..I talked to the teacher and explained everything..Well that little girl never bit her again.. Also,a new baby in the family is going to be hard for your daughter...She was the only child and got all the attention and now theres a new member in the family and all the attention is on him...Shes jealous...Did u explain to her about having a new baby brother? My daughter was 2 when I had my son and while I was pregnant I would talk to her all about having a baby brother. She didnt know what to think when we took him home from the hospital..She would not leave his side for anything..She wanted to hold him and kiss him...I think she thought we were just watching him for someone b/c when someone would come over to see him she wouldnt let them near him telling them hes not leaving...There were times I had a hard time with her trying to pick him up and things..She would get jealous if I was holding him and not her or when I would feed him and she wanted me to play with her...U see shes a mamas girl...Your daughter use to have all the attention and she was the baby and now theres another baby and shes not getting all the attention anymore...My little girl would get mad if I was holding my son and just walk up to him and hit him on the head.. I know ur saying well she still gets attention b/c I said the same thing..I wasnt loving one child more than the other,but in my daughters eyes she was seeing me always having my son..I mean u have to hold them when they cry, feed them, change the diapers, give them baths, sing to them,etc. All of the baby duties and she saw me spending all my time with him and not her..I would just talk to her about it and ask her would she help me with him like help feed him and bath him and all...She would and it all got better...Now my son just turned 1 and she will go crazy if someone gets on to him or tells him no..Shes so protective over him....If he gets hurt she will run to him and baby him...Just give it time and it will all get better...

Answer 8

Honestly it sounds cruel but you should bite her back. My oldest did the same thing, and I tried so many different ways, and nothing worked. Finally in desperation I bit him back. It was hard enough to hurt. He never bit again, because he found out it hurts to get bit.

Answer 9

she is probably feeling some jealousy. I would suggest making sure she is getting some one on one time so she knows she is still mommas baby too. I would put her in time out everytime she bites, though.
good luck

Answer 10

oh man, i would just tell her firmly, listen... you cannot bite anyone. That is bad. Don't do it again, and if she does it again, smack her hand (don't hit her, please) but let her know anytime she does it that it's bad and she can't be doing that...