She Bit Me on the Thigh!

[Jessica at Parenting.com]

My 13-month-old daughter bit me on the thigh last night!

She was frustrated, waiting for me to give her dinner, and just leaned over and bit me. (First time for everything...)

At first, I was shocked. Then I realized I needed to respond, so I looked her in the eye, put on my best I-Really-Mean-It face, and said, "No! No Biting!" then put her in her pack-&-play for a minute.

We'll see if this continues. It all feels like a big experiment: How to stop the biting! (It's kind of funny, kind of not funny...right?)

In the meantime, what do you do when your kids bite? If you catch it early, will they really learn to not do it? Help!

[Kerisweetpea]

my son is 16 months old and is doing the same thing! if he gets mad at me or im not going fast enough on his food or something he turns to bitting. I pretty do the same thing you did, i tell him no bitting and that it hurts mommy and i put him in his pack-n-play for a couple of minutes then when i take him out i tell him why he went in there and sometimes he will hug me so tight and kiss me, then i know he is sorry.

I have notice lately that he hasn't been bitting as much. but it all takes time

[MamaT]

my son is almost 13 months old, and he bit me in the armpit (ouch really hurt!) , my leg, my calf.
i figured out tho.. he only bites when he's teething or extremely mad. when he does it i get on his level and say" No more biting! that hurt mama! it's not nice!" I'm firm and make eyecontact with him. then he kinda snuggles into me so i know he's actually sorry.
I have learned 2 tricks to stop his biting.
not letting him get so mad. i can usually see when it's coming and change the atmosphere for him quick. 2. buy otter pops. orajel and tylenol dont work for him much when he's teething so we got otter pops. not only do they numb his mouth for a bit.. but he gets a good treat on a hot day
Let me add that I'm starting to know when his teeth bug him.. so that's when he gets the otter pop. if he bites me he doesn't get one because i'm not going to reward biting with a treat.

[MamaT]

Let me add that I'm starting to know when his teeth bug him.. so that's when he gets the otter pop. if he bites me he doesn't get one because i'm not going to reward biting with a treat.

[MamaT]

oops.. sorry for double posting the last part!

[lena241]

My daughter was biting from the time she was 13 months until she was 3 1/2. She got me good quite a bit, and my husband a few times. I asked the pediatrician, the dentist, blogs, friends, etc. for advice. Finally, after I came in with another fresh and visable battlewound, A friend at work told me to bite her back and she would stop. Mean as it sounds, many bites and almost a month later , she bit me, so I bit her back. She hasnt bit me since. She tries, but I remind her I will bite her back. She cries, says that will hurt her, but doesnt bite me. I simply tell her it hurts me too!

Made the same threat with scratching and pinching that she later tried. 1 scratch later, no more scratching. Now I tell her to use her words and have sucessfully accomplished teaching her feelings of mad and sad, she now vocalizes her frustrations. Mission accomplished!!!!

For the record, I never bit her hard. It was just the thought of it that hurt her feelings bad enough to make her stop.

Good luck