10 Month Old That Has 5 Teeth and Loves to Use Them

My now 5 year old liked to bite whan he first got teeth. If he was mad or excited. He has always been advanced mentally, but age appropriate emotionally. I tried nicely saying no, re-directing his focus, time-outs. Nothing helped, he mostly laughed. One day I bit him back. Not as hard as I could, but hard enough so he didn't like it. He never bit me or anyone else again. It wasn't so funny happening to him! We moved on and no thought or mention of it ever came again.

Hi N.,
Though those day seem long gone for me, I had a similar problem with my daughter at around the same age. Biting is something that they have to learn is wrong but it makes it challenging when they are only 10 months old. My mother used to say, "Bite her back"...ewww. I had trouble with that. My husband and I were lucky enough to have a very wise pediatrician who advised us not to use the word NO in negative areas in that it's a really useful word that could pack power elsewhere when we needed it. We used a firm don't and withdrew any attention. This was effective while she was in a car seat or in a safe place, but what about while I'm in a store or something, right? She did it to me once in a store and I immediately took her out of the cart with firm, "DON'T", and I left the store to put her in her car seat. It took some time, but it eventually worked. Later on, I would talk to her and say things like, "Show me your hands...hands are for clapping" and we'd clap. Then I'd go through different body parts pointing if she didn't know. When it came to the teeth, I said, "teeth are for chewing, not for biting people" and we'd make funny chewy faces. Though biting is not a game, they really don't have any idea that it's unacceptable at that age unless we show them. At times, I'd pretend to cry and tell her she hurt me which made her sad. It's a tough one, but I think you are right to address it now before it becomes a deeply ingrained habit.
Good luck
K.

N.,
I also have a very difficult child. I found reading the book "The Discipline Book" by William and Martha Sears really helped in my veiwpoint of what discipline should look like and how infants and toddlers think and will react.

Our 9 1/2 month old has 9 teeth and is using them for "fun," too. I'm responding with that "no!" and "ow!" and trying to find things ok for her to bite, etc. It's not too bad - she mostly bites me, dad, and siblings - never has done it to anyone else- though wait - maybe once the daycare provider, but she looks at you like she is about to do it and most of the time the people have actually wanted to see if she would do it. Not me. Ouch. Thankfully not much during nursing. I think she is a trooper because she has gotten so many teeth and not been too fussy about it. "no mordita" or "no biting mama" or "yes, you can bite this toy!" - similar to others.

my son who is now 10 bit my daughter who is now 12 when they were about 2 and 4 - REALLY hard on her back to show marks and draw blood when he was mad because he wanted her to get off the swing he wanted to use.

I'm sure the daycare should be able to work with her too. It does have to be somewhat consistent between daycare and home- so that might be the most important thing to do - decide how you want to handle it - then tell the daycare how you are handling it and ask if they can do the same or similar. Even if they handle it differently, you can support what they do by doing the same thing at home, using the same words, methods, etc, sometimes at least so your baby is having a consistent reaction to it. It's hard. Good luck.

Bite back! That's what I had to do to my little guy who thought it was funny when Mommy said "ouch"! Obviously not hard, just a little pinch with my teeth and a strong no. He hasn't done it since!

Hey N., I totally understand what your going through. I have had three children and all have bitten at least once and have been bitten themselves. I recall a time when my daughter was bitten about 6 times in a few days at daycare. I also remember a time when she was about 2 and I was talking and holding her and she just bit me on my collar bone and man did it hurt and this probably sounds mean but I bit her back and she never did it again. My youngest one who is 31/2 and he just bit his sister and So showed him the bit and told him a firm voice that it hurt and it wasn't nice and put him in time out. I know that your son is alittle young to probably understand but best advice is to just be consistant and again this sounds mean but maybe a bit back (not hard) would work. Consistantancy it always good. Good Luck.

My son started getting teeth at 4 months and had ALL of his teeth by 18 months. He is STILL chewing/biting everything. Instead of saying "no" I would ask him to please stop biting/chewing on certain things. I would also ask him when he started chewing on something if he was supposed to do that..."do we chew on stuffed animals?" and let him answer so he would know that it wasn't acceptable. Good luck!

I can hear your pain! I had a biter. Nothing is worse!

One suggestion that really helped was to get some bite safe balls. When I would see those teeth come out, I would say, "bite the ball, bite the ball." She'd stop what she was doing, run to find the ball and bite it.

It seemed to work until she was old enough to express her frustrations in other ways. I'd say we had to do this for about 2 months or so.

Also, make sure that if you are a play group or a playspace, you warn other parents. I would say, "My daughter will bite if she gets upset." It was great, because sometimes I'd be too far away to get to her before her teeth clomped down, but the other moms were able intervene.

A much nicer experience than having that look from the moms. That look of "Your child bit my child!" Ugh. There's nothing worse!!

I'm sure this will pass.

this might sound absolutely horrible but i fake cried when my daughter did that ... she felt so bad that she actually came over and gave me a hug (hehehe) she was about a year maybe a little older and i really dont remember her doing it after that - A.
ps biting back does really work too i just couldnt bring myself to do it :-)
also dont take advantage of the "crying" thing ... I did and now it doesnt work anymore lol

My friends son was a biter, especially of her! I remember she would be over dramatic about it when he bit her, not yelling but a dramatic "OW! That hurt Mommy!" It startled him at first, but he soon stopped biting her. I don't think he realized she could feel something if he couldn't feel it! I hope that helps, and I'm sure as long as you address it consistently, it will change soon!

My son had a biting problem. One of the assistant directors at his daycare told us not to worry because he would grow out of it once he started talking. Sure enough he did.

Hi N.!

I have to agree with Christine. The first experience I had was with my nephew. I bit him back and he never did it again. When my son learned how to bite, I did bite him back as well, not too hard but enough that they know that it is hurtful. My son never did it again either. I think that you have to show him that it hurts people and why it is bad. Otherwise, the child has no way of really knowing. Good Luck!

At 10 months old, I wouldn't recommend biting back. At this age the baby is too young to understand it, and will possibly do it more. He will think "mommy did it so I can do it too". My pediatrician told me this, when I asked her about my then 10 m/o hitting and pinching. For a child this age, the best thing to do is first warn them saying "Ouch that hurts mommy", then if he does it again pretend to cry. I do that with my daughter (now 12 months) and it usually does the trick. She looks at me and puckers her little lip out like she's going to cry too.