Need Advice on Child That Is Starting to Bite!

I'm a home child care provider, and when biting comes into play no matter what the age is the child is sent to time out.

Now, first children are not already programmed to know what time out is or what to do, so you have to be consistent with it. With time out and a child of this age, I have them stay there a little longer a minute and a half for a 15 month old is like a milisecond to them and it needs to be a little longer, more say 3 minutes and even after their 3 minutes is up they stay there until you say they can get up.

So when the child bites you tell the child that has bitten that a) that is not nice and that behavior will not be tolerated (with eye contact, a stern low toned voice), b) that they are now going to time out and they need to go there, c) they stay there until you say they can get up and you talk to them about what they did.

A 15 month old understands what they get when they bite, they gain instant gratification if no punishment is given to them what so ever and they gained what ever they wanted from the child the child they bit in the first place.

this may sound mean, but spay a little apple cider vinegar his mouth. It's edible and not poisonous and tastes really, really bad. I washed out one of those fine mist hand sanitizer sprays and added either apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar and it only took 1 time and both my kids stopped biting. The nice thing with the fine mist is that it's just a little and it sprays all over their mouth. If he doesn't react, you may have to squirt 2 sprays.

My youngest son, who is now 18 months old, understood time-outs starting at about 12 months. My oldest son, now 3, started going into time-outs when he was about 15 months.

Try time-outs. If they don't work, at least that's something else that you can check off the list. For now, I think that is your first best bet. Little ones really are smart, and I found that my younger one watches everything that the older one does, so he picks up more than I think.

I went through this with my oldest son biting at daycare. Our solution was to remove him from the situation and give him a something he can bite, and also what you mentioned about telling him no. In addition, when he was at home, I lightly tapped his mouth and told him "no biting". I did not hit him in the mouth just a light tap and he usually got the point. It sounds like he is biting out of frustration not because his teeth are bothering him, so removing him and re-directing his attention would probably be the best.

He can understand disappointment. He will need to be watched very carefully and when you see that mouth opening and heading towards a victim...You get down and look in his face with an upset expression and say "NO BITING!. Do this every time.

Here is a great short video with 2 brothers about your sons ages..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he5fpsmH_2g

Look at www.oneweekparentingmiracle.com. It has some great suggestions for timing out, why kids do what they do, etc. It has been a good resource for me! Good luck!

my nephew was a biter! My brother and SIL had to watch him like a hawk every minute. It meant that they missed out on a lot of grownup time at parties, etc. but it was the only way once he had gotten the habit.

We all learned to look for his 'tells'. When he started to get over tired or just excited, his voice would get louder, his eyes would get sort of glassy and he would just get this 'look' in his eye - you could see it, if you watched for it! After he took a chunk out of grandpa's arm, we all knew the signs, lol.

At that point, his mom or dad or someone would swoop him up and take him someplace quiet and tell him that he needed to calm down before he could go back to play. It wasn't punishment or even a time out- but just down time to calm him down. Even my son, who is a little older, got to know the signs and would come running up to us saying " He's getting ready to bite again!"

Once he was in preschool full time, he sort of stopped on his own. his mom and dad had him tested for everything. ADD, etc. but there was never any real reason for it. But the routine of school and the structure just seemed to really suit him and it all just went away- now he is a very very bright, well-adjusted elementary school boy, but they were really going crazy for a while!

I would say also, make sure you TELL your family and friends and other parents you are going through this! Don't be embarrassed or try to hide it. It happens! Let other grownups know to be on the watch and avoid an incident rather than having to do damage control afterwards- same for preschool teachers, etc. People will be more sympathetic if they know you are aware of the issue and trying to do something about it.

Last but not least- this is what I did when my 10 year old was little. He bit me ONE time- really really hard. I shrieked and nearly dropped him out of my lap and he had this little grin- he just thought it was really funny. He went to do it again and I took his arm and bit it, very slowly, until it started to hurt. As soon as he said OW and started to pull away, I stopped and said

"Biting HURTS. We NEVER bite. You hurt mommy when you did that!" I showed him my bite mark and asked " Did it hurt when mommy bit you?" He sniffed a yes and we both compared our bite marks and promised to never ever bite anything but our food ever again!

And it worked- he never again bit me or anyone else. I am not saying it is the best approach for you- but that is what worked for me! Good luck!