My 10 Mon Son Is Biting

We've not had problems with our children biting - they tend to be the ones getting bitten for some reason.

But, we've had issues with hitting, etc. and our position at that age is to sternly say, "NO!" and to tell them not to bite, hit, etc.

I don't believe in talking to them like babies. For example, I wouldn't say, "NO bite". I'd say, "NO!" then I'd ask, "Do we bite?" and reconfirm with another No. Children at that age learn by consistency and repetition. So, the more you enforce it (not just when he's doing the biting), the more you'll be able to correct the behavior before it really gets out of hand.

As a parent of 2 kids that have been on the receiving end, we know it's part of childhood. But, the actions of the parent are really important - seeing a parent try to correct the behavior makes me much more reassured about my child playing with them than someone who laughs it off and acts like it's nothing.

Hi K.,

I'd stop biting him back. It's confusing for them to have you say no biting and then bite them - they don't get that you're trying to prove a point.

There is a board book called "Teeth are Not for Biting" and it's absolutely amazing. When my son was in an infant center he kept getting bit and then starting biting as well so I asked that the teachers read this book to him. They decided to read it to the whole class and within a couple weeks they didn't have a single biter left in the class. It's worth checking out - I'm sure the library carries it if you don't want to buy it.

Good luck! I hated the biting period. It's frustrating (and painful!).

Best,
T.

i agree with the comments below, and that it's most likely teething. My ten month old chews on any object he can get his hands on, even though we can't see any new teeth coming through! But wanted to also share a story I read in a magazine that I found helpful, as I was doing this exact same behavior...

A little girl was biting all the kids at daycare and so the teacher talked to the parents about it. They tried everything they could but she kept doing it. One day, the dad came to pick her up and when he got there he swooped her up to hug her. Then he lifted her up and got her to laugh by play biting on her fingers and toes. The teacher realized that while the dad was just doing this in fun, that it was reinforcing to the girl that biting was ok because it was play. And she was too little to understand how hard she was biting other.

So if you don't think it's teething, you could consider if anything you're doing with your son might be encouraging him to think that biting is play.

I agree with most everyone, that is most likely teething. But I remember with my 19 year old, he also had chronic ear issues we did not know about. When he was biting he was trying to relieve pressure. The docs did not catch it unless they did a tympanogram in the office. They could NOT always see it with looking in his ears.

Good luck.

During this teething time, you need to have a lot of different teething items always available. If someone is going to hold your child, warn them your child is teething, so they will need to have something available to stick in his mouth.

Toys, cold teethers, baby wash cloths, that have been frozen.. If you child begins to bite, say, We do not bite people! You can bite this toy"..

Do this every time. Soon you can just say, "no biting", and your child will understand.

He is looking for comfort and it might not look like it is teething, but it can be. Try giving him something hard to chew on for comfort (like a baby toothbrush) and then re-inforce not to bite people. He is 10 mos old, what example or good is it showing for you to bite back your child or even to pop him..It's like you having a bad itch and not knowing what to cure it. It is not a discipline issue, it's a comfort one.