Biting - Memphis,TN

I am having the same problem. I have three biological children who never bit or hit. We just adopted a child and he is 19 months old. He is biting all of us and hitting all of us often. I get frustrated b/c nothing seems to work. I have never had to deal with this so I need some suggestions on what to do. If you have come up with something please let me know. Thanks!

Biting back and "popping in the mouth" are not appropriate discipline. This is not only a personal opinon, but the professional opinion of someone who worked for Children's services for several years. "popping" a child in the mouth is abusive and will only teach the child that hitting is OK.Some children bite more than others and are harder to break of the habit. You can research the parenting books or ask a peditrician, but they will most likely tell you that your best bet is positive reinforcement to good behavior and redirecting bad behavior. My son is also a biter and I have had a time breaking him of it, although he is getting better. Consistency in your response is important. It will take some time, but she will outgrow it. Good Luck.

I know that this is the wrong thing to do, but the ONLY person that my little girl bites is me. She bite my husband once and he bite her back and she has never done it again. I don't have the heart to do that, but it is not very often that she does that to me. So I am not sure on what to tell you to do.

My son had a habit of biting at that age too. We were just constant in telling him not to do that and that it hurt when he bit us. He stopped after a few months. I don't think you should bite him back. I have heard that advice many times and it doesn't seem right. Some kids hit (not realizing what they are doing), so do you hit them back? I don't think so! Kids understand what you are saying, so if you tell him no and that it hurts, he will start to listen.

You will think this is terrible, but my son only bit me once because I bit him back. Now I didn't break the skin. But he felt it and realized that it hurts and he never did it again.

K.,

HI there. I was lukey my daughter did not bit but a friend of mine did and will if she gets upset or mad. But they come to find out that it is becasue she cann't express how she is feeling like you and I can. They are working with her on useing her words and what to do when she gets mad and upset. You can try that but. Like alot more have side if that does not work bite her back but don't do it to where it will hurt her. I know all the books and all the Drs will say NOT to Bite back but if that is what it takes then you may need to think about that. But you have to look at it this way also if you have her in Daycare and she keeps biteing the children they will ask you to take her out. I hope that has helped you in some way. God Bless you and good Luck it is an age thing she will grow out of it befor long just keep that in mind also.

K.

I have to totally agree...I thought that I just couldn't bite my baby untillabout two weeks ago my two year old brought bood on my three year olds arm. I bit her in the exact same place.(I did NOT bring blood) I bit her just hard enough to leave teeth marks. They lasted for about an hour. She has been a biter since she was born. It honestly made me sick. Once I was out of her sight I cried. She has rubbed her lips on my shoulder once(she always does this right before she bites)and I said in a sweet voice, Do you want mommy to bite you back? She hasn't bit once!!!
I am so thankful!!! I wish I had done it when she was younger.

It's a stage, she will get out of. My oldest son was a biter, we did it all, bit him back, told him know, and showed him how to bite softer...nothing really worked...he just finally grew out of it...Just be consistant, telling her no, and disciplining her as you see fit..good luck

My 10 year old was a biter at that age and we tried everything and nothing worked until our nanny bit her back. Just hard enough where she got the idea that it hurts. After that each of us bit her one time after she bit us. The last person she ever bit was my husband, she bit him just above his kneecap one day when he wasn't paying attention. He picked her up and bit her and that was that. She was daddy's girl and him biting her seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back. He felt terrible for about a day because she had pulled the big alligator tears trick, until he realized she had not bitten anyone else. It took about 2 weeks once everyone started biting back for her to get the message and quit.

hi K. - i have a 14 month old with the same problem. he's been biting for a few months now at least when he gets upset. the sad thing is what i've been doing to break him of this (and what everyone else i've talked to says) is to bite back. i know, it kills me everytime to know that i'm causing harm to him, but he has literally left bruises and teeth marks on my daughter's body from biting. they have to know how it feels. i believe that although we haven't totally broken him of this bad habit yet, we have made progress. good luck!!

When my daughter bites me, I bite her back! We had tried telling her no & that it hurts, but she would just laugh at us! So, I showed her that it really does hurt. I have only had to do it 2, maybe 3, times. Even then the times were far apart. She doesn't even try it very often anymore. And she's never been sent home from daycare for biting others.

I know this probably sounds bad to some but it worked well for me. Each time my daughter bit someone I would bite her back not hard but enough to let her no that is was wrong. It did not take long for her to not do it any more.

If you don't want to bite her back, or just can't bring yourself to do it, you can do something a tad milder like pop her on the mouth (not really hard, but hard enough so that she feels it, and it hurts or stings), and also say "no" or "don't bite" or whatever. Keep doing this (or any other thing) consistently until you get results. It shouldn't take long. Just like you, kids don't like being in pain, so until they associate that when they bite they feel pain (from getting bitten back or whatever), they will probably continue to do it until they grow out of it....which may not be for several years, if ever. You certainly don't want her to be a biter when she's 3, 4, or 5--it's better to nip it in the bud.

It may sound horrible. But bite her back, one good time, unless it takes a few times. She will stop. We had that problem with both of our children, and we don't anymore. GOOD LUCK!!!

do as everyone else has said, and BITE HER BACK!