How Do You Stop A Child From Biting?
Oct
08
I have mentioned before that Bekah has a biting problem. She will bite Sariah to take toys and food away from her. Three days ago she bit Sariah on her back and broke the skin!!! The bite mark is still there. I keep putting Bekah in time out for biting and when she comes out she gives Sariah a hug and a kiss and everything is fine until Bekah wants to take something else away from Sariah.
Most babies Rebekah’s age bite because they are teething but Bekah clearly bites as an act of agression and it is only Sariah she bites.
People have said that all I can do is try to prevent the biting, (which I can’t do 100% of the time because I don’t hover over my children all day) and just continue with the time outs until she outgrows this stage. But I don’t want to be patient, I want the biting to stop now 
Any more ideas on what I can do? Besides spanking, I’m not going to do that
October 8th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I’m sorry she is having a biting problem. I haven’t had to deal with that with my kids, just hitting. What I did for the hitting with Jason, since regular time-out wouldn’t work, was put his hands on time out. I held him in my lap and held his hands so he couldnt use them while explaining that hitting wasn’t nice and we need to be soft with people. He hated being restrained like that and it put a quick stop to the hitting. Maybe something like that could help?
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October 8th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
This is a touchy subject, I belive. This is my personal experience with it.
Maddy is not a bitter. She is, howevever, a victim of being bitten by one of her good friends. I did some research on the matter. I read online that parents need to discuss with their pediatritian if their children are over the age of 3 and bite, or bite a lot. It got to the point that her friend would bite her multiple times when they would play. Though my child wasn’t the biter, I asked our pediatritian. He advised that children who bite at this age do not bite because of teething. This is a form of communication for them. The child can’t say “I’m angry”, or “Hey, that’s mine.” So they bite. What you’re doing is what he recommends. Firm talking to. Let her know that biting hurts and is not acceptable. Use time outs.
He also recommended that you watch for signs. Does she bite when she’s mad? Tired? Irritated? Hungry? There can be cues she’s giving. Naturally, you are not always going to be there when this happens, but he advised that children that bite need to watched carefully for things that trigger. When you see Sariah has something and Bekah is getting angry, you can intervene. Direct her attention somewhere else.
Talking to our pediatritian helped me understand a lot, though Maddy doesn’t bite.
I hope this helps some.
Good luck.
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October 9th, 2008 at 5:02 am
my elder one was a biter but he grew out of it in a month or two…we just scolded at that very instant while pointing to the bite which is usually bloody, to further emphasize our reason for raising our voice…
my niece is a biter too…my MIL bites her back!*laugh* of cos its not too hard, but good enough to cause some pain…her biting stops less than a month…
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October 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Sometimes kids bite when they are sick. Adam always would bite when he was sick. If my boys bite which is rare, I separate the biter and put them on a chair and say, “no you are in trouble!”
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October 9th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Thanks for all the advice everyone! Right now I am focusing on teaching Bekah to look for another toy to play with if Sariah has something she wants.
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