Biting Each Other

I'm sure I'll get at least some been there done that responses - lol. I am sick and tired of these two little boys chomping on each other. It is more one than the other but both have gotten in a fair number of bites. I have tried separating them for a few minutes and scolding the one who bit. I've told them over and over biting hurts and picked up the crying one to comfort and walk away from the little shark. But it keeps happening over and over. It is mostly when I try to do the mornings dishes, they are not tired, they have 5 rooms to play in and with numerous toy areas. But they must hang together and someone (usually JoJo) gets chomped. What would do or have you done. I'm honestly so tired of them hurting each other.

Maybe I should not allow them out of their highchairs until the dishes are done? Maybe I could put on in a pack-n-play in the kitchen with some special toys? Anyone think this may work?

Thanks!
Mj

 

We had a bad time of this - so bad in fact that Evan ended up with a huge bite mark on his face that lasted DAYS and made for lots of questions from strangers...and James' had one on his arm that I had to treat with Polysporin because it actually broke the skin. But, they seem to be getting along better without the biting just recently (phew!). When they're calm we practice "gentle" a lot - touching each other gently, stroking each other's arms, patting on backs, etc. and they know the meaning of the word now so I can use that when hitting and biting come up. I think a certain amount of sibling abuse is inevitable. It's just awful to deal with though, isn't it? I feel like a referee a lot of the time.

 

For us, it was a phase that thankfully didn't last long. Nothing I tried helped. One of my girls was a biter and the other was always the recipient. It was difficult to keep them separated because they wanted and needed to be together. It was difficult not to be angry with the biter, especially when her sister's hand was missing a chunk of skin. The biting stopped when the girls were better able to express their frustations. If I'm remembering correctly, the biting took place before they were speaking.

You have my sympathies. I know how hard this is to get through. We, as Moms, keep trying to improve the situation, but very little helps.

 

At that age, there isn't a whole lot you can do except try to be consistent with "no" and "gentle" and try to head things off before they get out of control. We went through this in a couple of different phases (sorry to say it will happen again probably later). They don't have any other way to communicate their feelings right now. Also, we found it was much worse when either of them were teething OR when Mandi had an ear infection (she would "strike out" when she was in pain).

I hope this particular phase passes quickly. I know it's frustrating!

 

My guys still try it occasionally, mostly because Pat doesn't like to share and Kevin is mad at you or him. But it has quelled quite a bit in the last few months. We did shower a lot of affection and attention on the victim, and put the offender in a time out... with no attention given to him (not even negative). Just a simple no biting and sit on the baby couch for a while.

I think it helped them to tone it down a bit though.

 

Mine have been biting for the last 3 months or so. One usually more than the other and then it switches. I've noticed that when mine started cutting those molars, the biting would get worse and then kind of slack off. They do still bite if irritated with the other or bored. They were also biting others at daycare so they've been moved up to the 18-24 month class which is more structured. We felt that part of the issue was boredom. Otherwise, we do a stern "no bite" and a 1 minute timeout for the biter. I also try to watch for situations or behavior that looks like it will lead to biting and try to take the toy away or separate the boys. Sometimes this works, sometimes not.

Right now, they're not biting too much but I won't say the phase is over just yet.