Biting 15 Month Old

I used to work closely with an Early Childhood teacher (I am an Occupational Therapist) and she told me that in a class she took they told her to push into the bite rather than trying to pull away from it (which is of course your natural instinct). This was supposed to be uncomfortable (not painful) for the child and cause them to release, as well as to hopefully remember next time that it didn't feel good. Don't know if you'd want to try this, but she said it worked well for some of her past biters.

love the response from Nicola! I too, believe it to be a phase but one that needs curbing asap! My son who is 21 months, will on occasion still bite. We were getting pretty frustrated by it but a month or so into it he learned to closed mouth kiss and so i strarted saying "kiss not bite" or something along those lines. Now we can't stop him from kissing us all the time.

Hi S.,

At this stage, it's important for you to know that you are not doing anything wrong in parenting. Your son is probably trying to express some sort of dominance. My son did the same thing... although he also did this at daycare.

I did the same thing as the other mom... said DO NOT HIT MAMA and then gave a time out after the "warning". I also told him before and then when I put him in time out that it was his decision to go there. He has two choices... be good and listen to mama, do what I say, etc. or go to time out. It didn't take long for him to make the connection between his actions and my reactions. I had to hold him in his first couple of time outs (while looking away from him while he screamed), but it worked.

Some people recommended biting back to show him how much it hurt. I think it just reinforces that biting is an acceptable way to express frustration and anger. I did try it once and when it didn't work, that's when I went to the time out business. I didn't particularly like the way I felt by following the "bite back" theory. I felt it might be too early for him to understand time outs, but he did pick up on it... especially when I could put him away from me for continuing the bad behavior. I started with the "minute per year" business and explained after he was done with his time out that I still love him but (whatever behavior got him there) wasn't acceptable... because it hurts, it's not nice, etc. It was nice when I could put him in his pack 'n play without toys for a time out (he couldn't climb out) but once he knew how to do that, I had to go to a time out chair.

Good luck with him. I believe it is a phase, too, but you've got to establish complete dominance while still allowing him to know that he is in control of his own actions. Make sure that your husband also puts him in time out if he is the target... that way it's a team effort and your son won't think that it's just you (or Daddy) being "mean".

If your son gets to a point of saying "Daddy did it" or "Mommy did it", remember to tell him that HE is the one who is in control of what he does, not you or daddy. Hope this helps!

Well, I have two cases like this one. My friend's little boy was doing that at the same age. He even got kicked out of the church nursery because he bit another kid and drew blood. Believe it or not, he just grew out of it after a month. Now with my daughter who is now 2, when she hits me, I firmly grab her arm, have her look me in the face and I say firmly but without raising my voice, "You do NOT hit Mommy" and ask her to say sorry. If she does it again I give her a two minute time out. That has seemed to work pretty well. A really good book that has addressed this is The New Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson. I'm currently reading it. It talks about having to establish who the authority figure is. Hope this helps!