1 year old is a biter, please help!

[KirstenB]

We never went through this with dd1 who is now 8. But baby Zoe is a biter! She only has 2 bottom teeth, so we call her the Nibbler, lol. Seriously, she does it when she is frustrated, with very little warning. Has anyone else been through this? Do you have any advice?

We tell her "no bite" with a very stern voice when she does it. What else should we be doing?

 

[lovesmurfs]

I was told that kids bite because they're trying to communicate, but don't have the words. You're right -- it's because she's frustrated.

Here's two articles: http://www.parenting-child-development.com/child-biting.html and http://childcare.about.com/cs/behaviors/f/biting.htm

Good luck!

 

[spazzyjazzy]

Flame away but, when my son went through his biting stage which did not last too long. We would put a a tiny bit of tabasco on his tongue. After a couple of times he no longer bit anyone.

 

[Mickey527]

I can relate, my grandson who turned one yesterday is a biter.
Every article I read tells us to talk to him about why he bites. Well how can you talk to a 1 year old? He can't talk, which is one reason why he bites.
I just say "no Bite" to him and hope that eventually he will get the idea. When he does bite I take him away from whatever he is doing and say "no bite", there is not much else I can do at his age. One year olds don't understand punishment or time out so unfortunately you just have to hope that "no bite" works.
My three boys never bite but I had a neice who bite. Years ago when I was doing day care I lost one of my best paying families because my cousin bite their little boy. She bite till she was 4, nothing the family did could make her stop until she was ready. Peggie

 

[snowwite]

My DD bit my mom when she was little and my mom bit her on the finger nail w/just enough presure that she did not ever do it again.

 

[Daydreamer64]

I ran a family owned daycare for years. I always asked the parents what they wanted done to curb biting- they had lots of answers including ignoring it- I watched the children very closely but biting still occured sometimes.

I had one child who was two and a half years old- way too old to bite all the time, who would bite the daylights out of the other children- and NOT let go even with scolding- One time she took a chunk out of another child's arm. I'd had enough. The next time she grabbed onto a child I put ( with her parents permission, as they had to pay the other child's doctor bills and antibiotics bill ) a drop of hot sauce on her tongue before she even let go- I swear she never bit again- all I had to do was keep that jar where she could see it!

With younger children, a good firm "no biting" was pretty good along with removal from the situation, because it startled them - they were not used to me raising my voice - it usually sent them into a crying jag and it only took a few times to "scare" them out of biting.

 

[momof2inPA]

I can relate, my grandson who turned one yesterday is a biter.
Every article I read tells us to talk to him about why he bites. Well how can you talk to a 1 year old? He can't talk, which is one reason why he bites.
I just say "no Bite" to him and hope that eventually he will get the idea. When he does bite I take him away from whatever he is doing and say "no bite", there is not much else I can do at his age. One year olds don't understand punishment or time out so unfortunately you just have to hope that "no bite" works.

This is the only method I've ever seen work. Just keep re-inforcing until the behavior changes. She's only one, don't bite her or burn her tongue.

 

[paigevz]

It is very common, both mine did it, though the first was in daycare through it and THAT was a nightmare. He was already 2 when I finally was called to come in from work, took him in the restroom there, YELLED at him (which I never did before) and took him back in to his room and put him in the time out chair. It was very sad for me, because he was upset, but I knew I had to follow through, so I left and went back to work. He never did it again after that.

My second child, who was still under 18 months when he did it, we would isolate briefly...........just would pick him up and abruptly take him to another room, put him down and walk out. He could come out, but it was so startling to him that he usually waited a bit. We did that about 4-5 times and it worked.

 

[transparant]

After having 6 kids - I think this is a short lived phase. All of my kids bit at one time or another. But it didn't last long. Just keep reinforcing "no bite" and stop whatever activity you are doing at the moment. I know it's frustrating for you...but she's just a baby that is either frustrated, or simply has some new teeth that she is trying out (which is totally normal ) Hang in there - this to shall pass.

 

[mtemm]

what has worked for us is using sign language (even basic baby signs can help little ones communicate early). also, re-direction. "no bite but you can kiss."

one of our twins was a big biter and this is what seemed to work best with him.

 

[famofsix]

We never went through this with dd1 who is now 8. But baby Zoe is a biter! She only has 2 bottom teeth, so we call her the Nibbler, lol. Seriously, she does it when she is frustrated, with very little warning. Has anyone else been through this? Do you have any advice?

We tell her "no bite" with a very stern voice when she does it. What else should we be doing?

Maybe "no bite" with a stern voice and then offer a cool teether or a frozen bagel to bite on. It sounds like a teething thing more than an aggression thing. I think it also helps if she bites you to overreact in your response and facial expression. And then after the fact, overreact a good facial expression when you catch her being good and give her bigs hugs and kisses. It is a phase...it will pass!

 

[famofsix]

what has worked for us is using sign language (even basic baby signs can help little ones communicate early). also, re-direction. "no bite but you can kiss."

one of our twins was a big biter and this is what seemed to work best with him.

Good idea!

 

[DVC Jen]

I am a preschool teacher and although it is not an acceptable thing, biting is very developmentally right on target.

Children at that age do not have the verbal skills nor the congnitive ability to express themselves and thier anger, frustration.. so they bite.

Ideas on how to solve it? I think that is different with each child. But consistent, stern voice and being "out of favor" for a while has helped in our school quite a bit. Also making the biter help the victim feel better (getting cold cloth or holding cold pack on the bite) helps them realize what htey are doing is hurting someone.

PLEASE be careful with the hot sauce.. young children react very differently to spices than adults do. I know of a child who had his throat swell and he suffocated because that technique was used. Even if you have a parents verbal permission to do this.. you (the teacher) would be held liable and very well could be brought up on charges.

 

[famofsix]

PLEASE be careful with the hot sauce.. young children react very differently to spices than adults do. I know of a child who had his throat swell and he suffocated because that technique was used. Even if you have a parents verbal permission to do this.. you (the teacher) would be held liable and very well could be brought up on charges.

I used to babysit for a family before I had my own kids who used this "technique" and the parents wanted me to do it, but I refused to do it.

 

[KirstenB]

Thanks for all the advice! I remember when dd1 was in daycare, I used to pray, please don't let her be the biter, lol!! There's always someone who's the biter, and now it's Zoe's turn. I'm a SAHM right now, so she's just biting her sister, my husband and me.

Some of you may flame me, but if she were older, I'd probably bite her backor try the Tabasco sauce. At 1, (just turned 1 last week), I just don't think she'd make the connection. She'd probably just wonder what happened to that nice lady she used to call Mommy?

I like the idea of carrying her to a different room, with the "no bite" stern voice. Almost all kids this age love being around others, so I think this is a punishment I'll try.

LovesSmurfs, thanks for the links. I was reading the first one, saying to myself they want me to ask my one year old how she thinks her sister feels? Then I read the rest of the article which stated it'd be a slow process that she wouldn't understand at first.

I also like the idea of focusing on the "victim". "Nibbles" bites her big sister. It may be very effective for her to see Andi getting all the love and attention.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[lovesmurfs]

Regarding the hot sauce, I couldn't bring myself to give the kids hot sauce when they sassed back, etc.

What worked for us was a finger dipped in white vinegar swooshed around in the mouth. It doesn't stain, and it rinses from the mouth quickly without lingering effect. As they got older, we'd use a teaspoon.

 

[Daydreamer64]

Hey guys-
Just to let you know that I am not a child abuser- there's a difference between touching your finger to the top of the bottle and touching the child's tongue verses pouring the sauce into the mouth to cause chocking/burning and so on . People use bitter apple for the same reason. This was a taste that the child found offensive ( apparently blood wasn't offensive enough to her ) and remember, in this case, she was almost three and too old for that kind of continuous behavior. The parents wanted me to spank her or bite her back - I would not hurt one of my kids and found that the sauce worked wonders without any pain or hurting. If you bite something that tastes bad to you - you tend to spit it out and often don't eat that thing again- this worked the same way- the biting stopped.

The child that had the chunk taken out of her arm had a bad infection set in to the wound- I'm sure that her parents were not happy with her being a repeat victim. Also, the sauce did not "burn" the child's mouth- it is an offensive favor not acid or fire, many children of different ethnic backgrounds eat spicy foods daily since each family eats different foods-