OT: Biting after nursing

[Poohs#1fan]

I've been searching the internet and been unsuccessful, so I thought I would ask here. My daughter turned 1 in July and we stopped nursing about 2 weeks before. About a week after we stopped she started biting me. I thought it was about the nursing and that it would pass. It has gotten worse. I do sit her in a chair and count to 10 every time she does it and will continue, but don't know what to do. The first time I told her no, she told me yes, so that wasn't going to work. Today she left teeth marks for the first time. She doesn't bite anyone else, just me. Please help!!

 

[Zeebs]

ouch..... sorry can't help though as I am dealing with getting the odd nip while still feeding him.

So I will be looking out for any good advice as well.

Kirsten

 

[Poohs#1fan]

When she used to do that I would immediately take her off and wait a minute or two before I let her back on. She seemed to catch on to the consequence of that pretty quickly. Good luck I know that hurts.

 

[Zeebs]

With my first, I tried that to start with it didn't make any difference so I moved to pulling his head into me so he had to let go to take a breath, took 2 times before he stopped biting. Am not at that stage yet with Seth, still giving the taking him off step a go but will see how we go.

Kirsten

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I don't know that the current biting is related to you having just stopped nursing. Unfortunately, biting is something that often occurs in toddlers. There are a few reasons.

If your DD is teething at all, biting just feels good. Keep a teether in the freezer and give it to her when she bites.

Toddlers will sometimes bite out of frustration. They lack the verbal skills to communicate their feelings, so if they are sad, angry, frustrated, or annoyed in anyway, they will bite as a way of communicating their feelings and relieving some of their negative emotions.

What you did was correct. Say NO in a very stern voice. Remove her from the situation and give her a time out. You could probably go a little longer than just a count of ten. But certainly no more than 1 minute. It might take a while for you to see results. Another strategy if she bites another child is to shower attention on that child while making her have a timeout. She will want the positive attention rather than the negative.

Good luck. I know it can be frustrating.

 

[Poohs#1fan]

I know it's natural for a toddler to bite, but since she will only bite me I thought they might be related. If we only knew what they were thinking

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh I bet they are related, absolutely. She's probably angry, upset, and confused. She probably would prefer to start again. Why not try that out, see if her behavior changes?

 

[tonilea]

DS was a biter, even before I had to unexpectedly wean him at 15 months. It seemed to go through cycles and he finally quit about three. It was awful!!!!