biting

My twins are 15 months old and suddenly my DD is biting her brother if she can't get her way with him. She bit him on the arm on Saturday and this morning before work again. I told her we don't bite and ignored her and gave him lots of attention. How do I handle this? She is teething and I read that often kids bite during teething. I know she must be frustrated as she is not able to communicate verbally.(She already has 12 teeth and biting hurts.)

 

If it is a teething issue try giving her a permitted substitute item (teething ring, pillow etc.) to bite. Watch her closely for the situations in which biting seems to occur and say "we do not bite people/your brother. Biting hurts. If you need to bite, please use this." and hand her the item.

If the issue is more frustration with not getting her way or not being able to communicate, the substitute item will probably not work. In this case close watching to avoid the situations and redirection are probably the best you can do at that age.

GL!

 

I agree with June. I noticed with my DS when he bit, it was usually when he was teething. He wasn't fan of teething rings or frozen rags, so I would let him use an old pillow or blanket.

 

Thank you to you both. Will follow the advice.

 

We have 15-month-old twins (boy/girl) and she's a biter. She bites out of pure frustration because her brother took her toy or we're making her do something she doesn't want, like a diaper change. We normally just yell at her and tell her that we don't bite others, that it's bad. When she bites us, we scream really loud and tell (and sign at the same time) that she hurt us. She completely understands because she lowers her head. She hasn't done it in a while, so maybe it's working. She has yet to break skin, but she has left marks. She has 10 teeth, 2 of which are molars, so her bites are not pleasant . Some people bite back to teach a lesson. I'm not opposed to lightly biting back, but th eopportunity hasn't presented itself. Now that she understands "hurt" and pain, she really hasn't done it in a couple of weeks.