How can I teach my 20 month old son to stop biting? I've tried talking, time out, even a spank on his but.

Answer 1

This might sound bad but my step-mom (after telling my little brother to stop biting her SEVERAL times) bit him; not hard though, a bit harder than a nibble, on his hand.
Then she said "See, that hurts doesn't it? That's what it fells like when you bite mommy." He stop biting that moment. I guess he just didn't realize that what he was doing caused pain.

Answer 2

Your child is not too young for time-outs. I used this method w/my child and it worked! I told my daughter if she bites she will go to time-out. Time-out consisted of a few minutes in her crib w/no toys or play things. I would walk out and shut the door. After I got her out, I would tell her again that she cannot bite. She wasn't biting after consistently doing this for 2 weeks.
When you are at someone's house, you can either use their crib (as all my friends had kids the same age so it wasn't a problem) or sit them in a little chair away from the other children-this may seem harsh, but being consistent and doing it EVERY TIME is key-my daughter knew I wasn't going to let her play if she bit. Hope this is helpful.

Answer 3

My son bit for over 2 YEARS!!! It drove me to tears many many times. I couldn't make new friends and couldn't keep old ones because would bite their kids so much! He had gotten kicked out of 2 daycares for it too!!

I tried EVERYTHING, biting back (which I wouldn't even recommend trying), giving the victim attention, talking to him, ignoring it, giving time out, taking toys away, reading books about biting, etc.

The only thing that worked was cayenne pepper. I know it sounds cruel but I am telling you he was doing it for over 2 yrs, I was desperate. Besides, I just put the tip of a q-tip on some cayenne pepper and dabbed it on his tongue. It was a tiny amount but enough to give him a sting and after a few days of that he stopped. Thank God he stopped!

Answer 4

My 7 year old speaks three languages and I speak 3 and get by in two more. How many do you speak? I find you very narrow minded and bitter. You child will maybe have a bit of a hard time in school at first but eventually the kid will pick up english in no time flat and he will be speaking 2 languages, which is priceless. So let it go and worry about other things like feeding son son sugary processed foods which are much much worse for him than speaking spanish.

Answer 5

I would definately agree with biting the child back. 2 of my 3 children were biters. I too tried everything to teach them but they just didn't seem to understand until it was done back to them. Hey, it only took ONCE for my children and they never bit me or anyone else again. Good Luck!

Answer 6

not enough info really - under what circumstances does he bite?

is it to get attention? is it when he isn't receiving any?

is it in an incidence of conflict with anyone?

is it just to you and/or siblings or other children?

I wouldn't spank him but he does need to know this is unacceptable and will not happen.

If it's you he'd doing it to, I would show much pain and hurt to him so he knows what he's done and them deliberately walk away and ignore him and tell him you don't want to play with him, do anything with him if he's mean. The lack of your attention will not please him. Similarly, shower him with praise and attention when he is nice with you an doesn't bite.

If he does it to siblings and other kids, remove him from their presence immediately and put him somewhere where he can be ignored.

if you recognise the behaviour that triggers his biting, step in in advance to prevent other kids having to put up with it.

try rewards and sticker charts?

Answer 7

A Parents magazine article suggested always pouring attention on the victim and ignoring the aggressor. Kids at that age get jealous of the attention.

As for the spanking, at this age especially children learn so much by imitation. Its important to do behaviors yourself, that you want them to mimic. Same thing goes for the biting when he's frustrated, work with him on responses to do for example when another kid takes a toy, to say "no-no" for example.

Answer 8

Spanking even lightly, will make things worst, please forget it. His teeth are growing and this can be one reason. Anyway his is telling you that something is wrong with him. It can be nothing serious but you must check and investigate carefully the probable reason or reasons. Does he have a nanny? Does other people take care of him when you are not home? Please think and try to find out. Take care and be patient with him. As the Beatles said, "All He Needs Is Love".Good luck.

Answer 9

well, I never tried it, but I always heard that each time they bite you, bite them back and tell them that it hurts and not to do it anymore. I'd guess it might take 2-3 times for them to remember.

Answer 10

I was told to have the child that he bit to bite him back and that way they know that it hurts. This is something that my grandma told me several years back and on some of my kids it worked!!