Hey brains trust!
I have a 16 month old mini human & am pregnant also. Since I became pregnant, our 16 month old is biting me (like a saber toothed tiger!), hitting me, scratching me etc. it's only at me, particularly the biting. Never bitten anyone else but biting me up to 10 times a day. I spoke to a children's psychiatrist about it & she said when a bite occurs, we need to say (in a monotonal voice) "We don't bite in this family" & pop Bub in the cot, walk away for 5 min. She said not to make it a big dramatic 'no, naughty etc' scene, as bub is getting a reaction. Anyway, it's not working, it's getting worse!!! I now go in after 5 min & I say "you say sorry to mummy, it's not nice to hurt" & I get greeted with another bite!! Bub isn't even out of the bloody cot yet! I have to put bub in the cot as there is no where else where bub won't run off from. I should mention that I will NOT bite back. Any other ideas are very welcome....please don't judge, I already feel like crap about it!
Biting toddler!! Help!
Biting toddler!! Help!
Posted in:
Behaviour, Baby & Toddler
3 Replies
I'm surprised psychiatrist advised a time out for a 16 month old! Most professionals these days steer away from time outs and they are usually reserved for children older than 2. Majority of 16 month olds don't understand apologising and certainly don't have the emotional maturity or words to express there anger and frustration at being put in time out. Or express why they bit in the first place.
She/he is biting because she is having trouble expressing with language about feeling frustration, anger etc. if 16 month olds had the maturity to think this through we wouldn't need baby safety devices like cots, baby gates, power point covers etc.
What I would do is avoid the bite and scratch as much as you can. Sometimes that can mean moving out of the way, putting baby down if you are holding her and she is angry/cross or looks like going to bite. Making sure you don't allow her mouth near your arms, hands etc. I used to cuddle my son so he couldn't face me so that he couldn't bite.
As babies language improves, and expresses more, and grows up a bit this will stop.
My son was a biter, although was 3 nearly 4 when he started biting and he knew better, i tried everything under the sun, from stern voices, time outs, smack on the bottom, took toys away from him....nothing worked....like you i was the one who always said i wont bite back. One day he bit his auntie (my sister) and drew blood, she without hesitation or saying a word bit him back (not overly hard but hard enough that he felt it) and since that day he has never biten since....but my son was older and he knew biting was wrong, that probably wouldn't have the same results for a 16 month old...hopefully its a faze as your bub might be just getting frustrated for various reasons and biting due to that
I had the same problem with my toddler when I was pregnant with my second. I did not want to resort to biting back either so I tried everything from timeout to no treats and even no visiting friends/family and found that the last time she bit me she drew blood and I bit her back just hard enough of her to feel it. I let her cry for a little while and then explained to her that we get don't bite and she hasn't bitten me since.