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View Full Version : Hpw can I stop my 8.5 month old from biting....



Andrea S
04-28-2003, 02:09 PM
Andrew has been biting my toes, arms whatever he can get his little mouth around. I have been putting him down and saying no biting, but it has not gotten any better. He has gotten 4 teeth in the last 3.5 weeks. They all have broken through so I was hoping he would get back to normal and stop acting like a maniac. He has 600 teething toys rattles, vibrating teethers, cool teethers. I have given him hylands teething tabs and tylenol. I do not know what else to do. I do not want him knawing on other people or kids.

Do their teeth still hurt after they have broken through the skin.

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

flagger
04-28-2003, 02:38 PM
I don't think you can reason with an 8 month old. I would say "NO! OUCH!, etc. along with putting him down in a tone you only use in that situation. He might be shocked and probably will cry because you raised your voice, but eventually he will reason "if I do this action it brings about this reaction from mommy. I don't like that reaction so I won't do it again".

Karenn
04-28-2003, 04:16 PM
Colin was really in to biting for awhile. Around 8 mos. I started saying "Ow!" in a strong voice and that caught him off guard. He did cry the first couple of times. He tested it several more times after that, but ultimatly the biting stopped.

nigele
04-28-2003, 05:04 PM
Andrea,

My ped has told me that, yes, they still hurt even after they break through. Are you nursing? Tom bites down when he is nursing - OUCH! I have told him no every time but he just laughs at me!

brubeck
04-28-2003, 05:13 PM
The first time my daughter bit me I was just so surprised and (physically) hurt that I yelped, "Ouch!". It was an honest reaction but it really scared her and she began to bawl. Now she will occasionally do things that hurt me but the same reaction generally stops her.

So basically I'm with the say-ow-and-put-him-down-immediately group.

egoldber
04-28-2003, 05:55 PM
Sarah has bitten me once or twice. Each time I say VERY STERNLY "We do NOT bite! That hurts!" I then put her down and do not hold her or play with her for a minute or so. It really only took a couple times of this for her to get the idea. She is VERY upset when I do this, but personally, I will NOT tolerate biting in my child. I reserve my "mommy REALLY means this and do NOT do this" voice for things like biting, pulling off my glasses, and otherwise causing hurt to myself or others.

It's hard, but I think it is important to be consistent.

HTH,

Andrea S
04-28-2003, 06:56 PM
I am nursing, but he has not biten me yet. I am sure he will sooner or later. Andrew laughs at me too when he bites my toes and I move him away he thinks a game.

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

ATJ71
04-28-2003, 07:20 PM
First, my son and yours have the same birthday:+.....From everything I have read, heard and seen, you are supposed to say "no" in a firm voice. If he does it again, repeat "no" in same voice. It is important not to laugh or you may illicit reinforcement (remember this when he is older and says a bad word :) if he bites again, they (the experts, who probably never even had a kid) say to change the environment, distract him with a toy. If he is biting down and clamping, I know if you rub right under his nose with your finger, he will release the grip.

It's funny, I can remember that when my good friend was going through this same dilemma, my reponse was "bite him back" (I was not a parent yet - obviously), but think about it, if your child was hitting another child, you wouldn't want to hit him to stop or if he were yelling, you wouldn't want to yell at him to get him to stop.

It sounds definetley like he is teething, have you tried FROZEN MINI BAGELS as a teething ring? Good luck.

ALI,
mom to CJ 08/14/02!!!

August Mom
04-28-2003, 08:43 PM
My son has the same birthday as CJ and Andrew too. Fortunately, DS has not bitten me...yet.