My 16mo. old baby boy has started biting. He has bit my 3yr old neice a couple times and has bit his little 18mo. old friend. I don't know what to do. My son and his friend go to the same baby sitter. She said that he never tries to bite him there so I'm not sure why he does it when I am around. It will come out of the blue. He doesn't seem to be mad when he does it and it isn't because the other child has done anything wrong. I have spanked him and told him "No biting". But it doesn't seem to work. I have heard to bite him back but I have also been told not to bite them back because it is teaching them to do what you are trying to stop. What is your opinion on this?
This may sound extreme, but when our daughter was doing this....be it molars coming in, teething or frustration, it needs to be corrected.
We told our daughter that her mouth was dirty now and had to be washed out. One swish of a tiny drop of liquid soap did the trick. I had heard you could use mouthwash, too, but worried about the alcohol content on that.
Good luck.
Bite him back...it works, no matter what the critics say. Just enough for him to feel it. Once he see that it's not a good feeling, he'll stop.
This is a tough one. Yes, they say don't bite him back, but sometimes you have to do it. He probably doesn't understand how much it hurts.
You might need to have to get in his face a bit. I don't mean scream at him...just stare him down while saying "no" very, very firmly. Tell him that our mouths are for eating & kissing...not hurting. Good luck!
My 24 year old son was a biter when he was 3, and I can tell you: do not hesitate to bite him back! We didn't do that because of the reason you stated, and he left a lot of teeth prints in other children before we finally got it stopped. My husband had the idea of putting tabasco sauce on his tongue when he bit someone, and it worked. I think a child must have something very unpleasant to associate with the behavior, whether it's hot sauce or being bitten. The main thing is be quick and be consistent in your discipline. Blessings!
