Biting at 15 months

I have twin girls and a 5 yo son. My girls are great, most of the time, but when baby A gets angry, she does not know what to do and she will bite. She goes for her brother, for her twin, and for me when I change her diaper. She bite me in the grocery store on Saturday because I removed her from a dangerous situation.

What to do? I know they don't understand how to adjust their feelings, but time out doesn't seem to work, "NO" makes it worse, and it is VERY hard to ignore. The other twin doesn't bite at all!

I am wondering what I have done wrong with this pumpkin? How can I regroup and make things better for all of us?
Thanks, your comments are welcome and appreciated!
Stacy

 

I have no advice but would love to hear some. I have 2 biters.

 

You definitely didn't do anything wrong. Biting at this age is a sign of frustration because they can't communicate their feelings. My DS went through a biting phase for about 2 months. His poor sister had bite marks up and down her arm! I always just said "no bite" and took him away from the situation. I would comfort his sister and not make eye contact with him for about a minute. If he kept doing it I would hold him in my lap like a short time out so that he would forget what he was upset about. I think once they started talking more and we taught them some sign language the frustration got better and he hasn't done it in a while.

 

I agree with slugrad1998. I found that when my DS bit it was due to frustration of not being able to communicate well and teething...it always seemed like that when me or DD got a bite from him is when I'd notice a new tooth popping through. I was very consistent about the no biting policy and would tell him "no bite" and remove him from the situation.

 

My boys didn't bite, but they did go through a phase of hitting. I found that redirection really worked; I would say "touch Mama nice" if they hit, and gently guide their hands into patting or stroking. I've heard some people have good luck redirecting biting into kissing!

 

We have had great luck with turning bites into kisses. If I catch the bite as it is happening to the other twin, I will grab the biter's cheeks (to make a fish face) and say no biting and then remove her from the situation. If it is happening to me, I will encourage her to turn her bites into kisses by saying, "We don't bite, give kisses! MUAH!" She thinks thats fun and often does it. Soon, I hope she will also do that to her twin and I wont need to remove her. All of the advice I have been given from family and friends is to bite them back, but thats definitely not something I was comfortable with.

Good luck!

 

I agree with all the above, but also wanted to note that both my boys started biting at that age due to frustration (I believe) and molars coming in. I think it was like the perfect storm of developmental/growth issues in my house. We did "no bite" and redirection, and the phase passed after about 2 months.