Baby O now has four teeth – two at the bottom and two at the top – and they are sharp little fangs. He is also at the stage where he is learning to gives kisses. Unfortunately, he has not yet learned that these two should not be combined, and the result is some nasty little nips from him, mainly so far on my shoulder and Husband’s thigh, but also on my chin, lip and neck – ouch! But how to deal with a baby biting?
It hurts like hell a lot and, while I love that he is growing increasingly affectionate, I am also concerned that he may start “kissing” other babies like this. I don’t want to stop him being so affectionate but I want to stop the biting in its tracks. So far, we have just been telling him “No” when he bites but he just gives this cute little grin and carries on.
So, I put the mighty Google to the test to see what other suggest and found the following suggestions:
- Bite your baby back – This is just not an option that I could consider, I’m afraid. I know they say only to bite gently so that it doesn’t leave a mark, but I cannot believe that this is a good idea. I’m no psychologist, but I would have thought that this would give them the idea that biting is okay if we do it too.
- Cry – I like this is an option since I know that Baby O has reacted before when he has seen me upset. However, I am not sure how easy it is to turn on real tears as they suggest. I’m willing to give this one a go though. And maybe the tears won’t be so hard to come by – his little teeth are so damned sharp…
- Say No – Well, that’s what we’ve been doing and it’s really not working out so well for us so far. He just seems to think that it is a game that were playing and that biting is the way to win. One of the sites I found confirmed this – Aha! Parenting gave some really good tips.
- Put your baby in Time Out/on the Naughty Step – Given that Baby O is not yet eleven months old, I think that Time Out/the Naughty Step is too advanced for him. Good to know for when he’s a toddler though (but please let him have stopped by then!). One drawback is that we don’t have a step – haha!
- Squeeze your baby’s lips together – One poster on Babycentre suggested gently squeezing your baby’s lips together when he bites so that he cannot do it again. This is also something I am willing to try, if I can get Baby O to keep still for long enough for me to try…
- Put their own hand in their mouth as they try to bite – I can really see this one working as a deterrent, although it is a little cruel. I know that Baby O isn’t biting to be naughty, but just because it’s something he’s learned how to do with his new teeth and because he doesn’t know that it hurts. This is something that I think I will try if some of the other options fail.
- Ignore them and focus on the bite – This is one of the main suggestions from Dr Laura Markham on Aha! Parenting and is something that I have seen one of my mamma friends use to great effect. Dr Laura says that when your baby bites you, you should put them down straight away, do not engage with them, ignore them for a whole minute (but don’t leave the room) and then focus on where they bit you to show them how much it has hurt you. Be dramatic about how much it hurts and cry about it. Afterwards, tell him how much it hurt you and then say “We don’t bite. Biting hurts. We hug” and give him a hug. I like this method as, to me, it will show Baby O that he has done something wrong but does not involve a great deal of punishment and since it should also teach him that biting hurts and suggests some other way of showing affection than taking a chunk out of my arm!
So what do you think? Which methods have you used and have worked for you? Do you have any great tips for stopping a little one from turning into a little vampire?
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