Toddler Biting

I know this sounds horrible but dishwashing liquid soap in the mouth. My little sister used to bite my cousin so bad she scarred his back. My parents tried everything the child psychologists recommended and nothing worked. One day my mom was doing the dishes and seen my sister about to bite my cousin and she just grabbed the bottle of dishwashing soap and squirted it in her mouth and let me tell you she never bit again. I don't know if it'd work for a child that age though. My sister was probably 4-5.

My 2.5 year old also bites. She just bites me and my other daughter.. It is really bad.

Mother of 5 here-4 boys, 1 girl All biters at one time, so I bit them just hard enough to leave bite marks and make it hurt. NO BLOOD ever...NEVER HAD THE PROBLEM AGAIN, only took one time each. Yes, I felt lousy, but it cured the problem once and for all.

My daughter was biting until I rubbed some soap on her bottom teeth after she bit her sister. She had the taste in her mouth the whole day & never bit anyone again.

Hi Debbie. I'm glad someone suggested the vinegar thing because that is what I do with my kids and it DOES work. Plus, it is natural and has no chemicals (like soap would, and some people do that). Think about it... we eat things with vinegar in them! I still use vinegar today with my kids when they say bad words or have a smart mouth with me. Needless to say, I don't need to do it too often! I don't make them chug a glass or anything, usually it's a teaspoon of vinegar that they can spit out (not swallow) and after a few seconds of the nasty taste, I give them some water to flush out their mouth.

I hope no one thinks I"m too cruel. If anything, I'm not slapping them or biting them back or putting dangerous chemicals in their mouths.

I hope that helps you!

I think with anything when punishing our children you need to be direct and firm. Let them see you mad, but in control, that a certain behavior isn't appropriate. My kids at an early age could see that mom is more of a push over than dad. I watched my husband, and our kids listen better to him because he's firm in his words and they know he's serious. I've been trying harder with our youngest to start him out like this, that my word is just as firm as daddy's.

I would also say ice...

Our 2 year old used to bite her 4 year old brother. We tried scolding, time-out, redirecting, etc. It didn't work and it wasn't fair at all for her brother who was getting bit! My sister told me I should bite her back so she would know how it felt. That was something I absolutely could not do! Anyway, finally what worked is when she bit her brother I put vinegar on my finger and rubbed it on her teeth. She never bit anybody ever again!

Hi Debbie

Always put ice on the bite right after it happens if it's possible. I know a trick that daycare people use to make bites less visable, is after you are done with the ice, put a little vanilla extract on the bite. Not sure why it works but it does.

As for getting him to stop, the only thing I was ever able to do at a daycare was to encourage them to use their words. It's hard when they are that young, but they kind of understand when they are mad or agitated. Mostly it's about watching them like hawks, seeing when and why and redirecting before it happens. It's alot of work, because you can't leave them alone, but eventually it'll work.

Hope this helps!

Hi Debbie-
I have a biter too. He started early. Lately he mostly bites himself when he gets frustrated, but he will still bite me or brother. I talked with our Ready Start caseworker a little and she sent me a good article from the cooperative extension. We are currently doing the "ignore it" method, as drawing attention to the action was only amplfying it. We think it stems from his inablity to communicate as effectively as brother. Anyway if he bites himself we ignore and redirect; if he bites brother he gets sa stern "NO" and a timeout followed by loving on brother/apology.
With any luck both our bugs will outgrow this!!

This isnt really unusual for bitting but does need to be address quickly.This can be a act of anger.I would gentle tap their mouth letting them no where it was coming from and that it isnt allowed.If you cant get his attention in that form he will start going up to strangers and biting them when he is angery.