 | My 13 mth. old is a biter and has been since his teeth started coming in around 6 mths. Luckily, he doesn't bite other kids - mainly just me and occasionally other adults who don't let him have his way. In the early days, biting was a major form of communication for him (ex. I'm hungry, bored, excited, or mad/don't like what you're doing). Now, he usually only bites out of anger when you are doing something he doesn't like or removing him from something he does like (this biting accompanies a lovely tantrum). Until he was 11mths old we handled it by saying "no biting". We also would put him in time out in his crib when he seemed to be doing it out of anger. 11-12 mths we started holding his mouth shut (okay, like a puppy) when we said "no biting". I started some positive reinforcement (ie. praising him when he started to bite but didn't) and keeping him very busy with play groups and play dates. Things were showing some improvement, maybe 33%. Due to an unfortunate case of the hand,foot, and mouth virus he has been quarantined for the last 2 weeks and has become a rabid biter.(He has received his first spankings this week for biting.)I know this will get better. Has anyone else lived through this (No one I know has.) and how are you handling it? |
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