My 17 month old bites herself when she isn't happy with something. Is this common in children her age?

Question

I don't know where she gets it from, but it really bothers me that she does this. She leaves red marks and welts on her wrists. We do not spank or hit as discipline at home. Do other kids her age react this way?

Answer 1

Yes, it common, she is frustrated but does not have the vocabulary to express it so that's how she is expressing it. When she is upset start to identifying her feelings for her. "I'm sorry your upset. I know you want the cookie" It may take some time before she will stop biting though. See if you can find some kind of teething toy or another toy that seems to occupy her when she is upset.

Answer 2

Biting and head banging are two of the most common ways children in this age bracket deal with anger or dissatisfaction. As they understand that they are hurting themselves, closer to 2 yrs, depending upon other developmental areas, they stop and do other things better suited to address the thing or person that they are really angry about and get the attention they want without causing pain. If it does not stop by then, keep your childs doctor appraised as it may indicate other developmental issues though this is extremely rare.

Answer 3

My daughter used to do this around that age and a little older. The key is not to draw too much attention to it, because any reaction is a positive one. It eventually will go away. It may a sign of frustration or even just experimenting with what different things feel like. It bothered me too when my daughter would do it, but she's definitely outgrown it without ever doing herself serious harm :)

Answer 4

It's very normal, kids her age don't know how to express their anger or frustration so they do things like bite or hit, my 2 year old daughter used to bang her head on the wall when she was mad she grew out of that,now she throws herself backwards on the floor and kicks whatevers infront of her and sometimes tries to bite us, we are stillwaiting for her to grow out of this. We don't spank at home either, so it is amazing how they learn this on their own.

Answer 5

I think it's really common. My 12 yr old used to do it-and still does occasionally when she gets mad, and I have a 3 yr old who does it when she gets mad. The weird thing is I used to bite myself when I was younger. I can't really say it's genetic, but it has definitely been passed from me to my daughters..

Answer 6

my child started that at 18 months
i dont know if it normal i try to do my best at stopping it when i see it by redirecting him to something else like we'll go outside or in a whole different room and start playing with something else
its horible to see ur child do that and it looks painfull yet they dont even cry
i am goin to the dr for his checkup tommorow and will be asking the same question
i'll let u know what they say

Answer 7

That is so common all my siblings my son and every other baby in the family has done that at one point normally they get over it by their 2nd bday, dont worry about it unless it gets really serios, soon she will realize what she is doing and stop, the worst thing you can do is get mad at her make her do it more because she is getting attention. good luck!!

Answer 8

kids her age have their own way of dealing with things when they are mad. your daughter bites herself. my little cousin used to go run into a wall head first. its just a stage that you have to watch carefully so they do not hurt themselves too badly.

Answer 9

i guess it is common. my daughter does it too. she'll bite or pinch or even pull her own hair to make herself cry. she is 18m. it really bothers me to see her do it too, but i can't get her to stop. i think its just a phase.

Answer 10

this is common just ignore it andshe will soon stop