Advice on 15 Month Old Biting Her Lip

Putting something on her chin that is safe and doesn't taste great could help....by the sounds of it, you need something healing there anyway. If you know an Arbonne rep...ask about the FC5 skin conditioning oil...although it isn't advertise for this, there are many cases of healing this sort of thing...including my husbands excema and psoriasis management...it could help heal it within a couple of days...it doesn't taste terrible, but she may not like it and it is certainly safe. Overall....I find that most of this stuff is a phase and if you focus on it, it could get worse...try using some sort of distraction. It sounds sore....maybe kiss her chin to distract.

To help with the sores and maybe to help getting her to stop you could put some vaseline on her chin?

Hi J.,
Sounds weird, but you might want to see if she has food allergies or you can make sure she's taking a multivitamin in case she has something lacking in her diet. Being deprived of certain nutrients can cause odd habits (eating dirt is the most common). Worth a try. Good luck!

I agree about Vaseline...and if she doesn't like the taste perhaps that will cut down on it too. I heard for adults you need to replace an old habit with a new one. My guess is that would work really well with a child. (You hear over and over to tell kids what TO DO as their brains work much better that way. You don't say "get off the couch" you say "play on the floor.") So think about what could comfort her when she's tired...a lovey would be great if she takes to one. You could say "hug your dolly" and if she doesn't let go with her lip, just tap it and not use words and also distract her at the same time, see if she'll let go of her lip and grab for the doll at the same time. You could give her a pacifier, but later taking it away could be a challenge. Perhaps giving her a sippy with water in it? She would have to open her mouth to put it in. Maybe you can do a goofy face or dance that would distract her and make her smile and stop biting? If I think of other ideas I'll let you know. Best of luck!

Don't make a big deal out of it and give her alternatives. It is developmentally normal for her to mouth objects, fimgers, etc. She has found an odd place to do it, but it is really not that weird.

Since you don't want her to hurt herself, give her a few alternatives. It sounds like she is communicative enough to get the idea. If she does it, say, "No, that makes a boo-boo. Bite this instead." And give her a teething ring. Have a few for her so she doesn't get to attached to any one item.

She may have done it because of frustration or becaous her teeth hurt or because it felt funny. Kids tha tage simply experiement with their mouths and bodies. Now it's a habit. Just redirect and let her hav eplenty of oral stimulation. But with most things, if you fret too much, she will focus on it even more. She may even try biting others. If sleepy time is worse, consider putting her to sleep 15-30 minutes earlier to see if you can cut back on the frustration - she is giving you a message! And maybe give her a sippy wiht a little water to divert her mouth. Ask the doctor if there is a cream you could use that is safe to help the chapping and maybe discourage her. But don't use a bandaid as that would be a choking hazard. Don't worry too much. She'll find something else to do soon :)

Your daughter is stressed. You seem very taken with her verbal ability PLUS you had a new baby before your daughter was even 18 months, which is the very earliest I would consider a child a toddler, so I have to ask - are you pressuring her, overtly or subconsciously, to be a "big girl?" - because she isn't. She is a baby. Give her some typical infant toys to chew on and assure her it is ok to be the baby she still is. This is not a "bad habit." This is your daughter's attempt to relieve the stress she is feeling and will be followed by other self destructive behaviors if you push her to grow up too fast because you need to refocus on your new baby.

D., mother for twenty-seven years

It sounds to me like your daughter is stressed about something, maybe the new baby. Try to find ways to let her know that it's OK to be little girl, she doesn't always have to be the BIG sister. She is after all not even 2 yet. Instead of something like getting her to bring you a diaper when you change your son, ask her if her dolly's(or bear's) diaper needs to be changed. Try to get her playing age appropriate games. When your husband comes home, take some time to just be with her. It is very hard for little kids to understand that yuou have enough love for them and a new sibling.

I would recommend Aquaphor to help with the chappedness and dryness - my daughter gets really chapped areas around her mouth from drooling at night and my son gets dry areas from his pacifier and the Aquaphor works great - I put it on them every morning and night. It's not as greasy as vaseline and it's thicker. I buy it at Target, etc.

As for the biting, sucking on her lip - we had a similar problem and her speech therapist recommended we get her a Chewy Tube: (http://store.schoolspecialtyonline.net/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItm...)
or a Grabber Mouthing Toy:
(http://store.schoolspecialtyonline.net/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItm...)

Everytime we noticed her chewing her lip/tongue, we would present her with the Chewy Tube or Grabber (we had both) and explain that she should chew on the tube instead. She was also putting everything into her mouth so we presented this to her in all sorts of situations. I do think it helped, but I also think she grew out of it. My daughter was probably 16 months when we started and now she is 4 yrs and hardly does any of it now.

Good luck!

I would use lanolin on her chapped lips/chin. It works so much better than anything else I have tried plus it is one of the only things that is safe to ingest.

My daughter also sucks her bottom lip and chaps her chin (how I know about the lanolin!) but as it is not hurting her, I completely ignore the behavior and she seems to be doing it less frequently. If you try ignoring it and not making an issue of it then it might stop sooner.