8m.o pinching, biting, pulling hair!! why? help please..

[mammainlove]

please help my 8m.o. dd is pinching, pulling hair, scratching and biting so much. i'm not really sure how to react, i dont want to be angry. we've been firm saying "no!" but she thinks it's a game and laughs. she sometimes looks so vindictive when she does these things! we are a very peaceful family so i dont know why she should be, if she is angry. is this a phase she's going through? it really hurts somtimes, especially when breastfeeding. any suggestions??

when ds1 used to bite when bf, I used a stern "no", unlatched him and put him down for a minute and walked away. I think it took a couple of days for him to stop. but I've no idea when not bf. she's not being vindictive though, she doesn't yet know she can cause you pain, but she's obviously learnt that this behaviour gets some reaction out of you that she likes.

DS has been pinching and pulling hair recently (9 months this weekend). I find that if I say ow or No sharply he doesn't stop. He does however, seem to react well to "gentle". Sometimes he has grabbed my nose hard, you know the one where their little fingers are actually inside your nostrils, if I stay calm and say "gentle, gentle" in a soft voice he relaxes and stops what he is doing.

Probably not failsafe though!

that does sound like a nice suggestion thank you i will try this from tommorrow xx

They're just discovering they can get a reaction from you - even 'No' is a start at communicating with you especially if it gets the same reaction each time! She's becoming a human - nothing vindictive about it - she's trying to 'talk' to you & loving that it's happening. I agree with 'gentle' idea and if that doesn't work, put her down & walk away for about minute then come back & talk to her calmly about why you did it, possibly with miming. DD2 (10 mths) likes to try & detach my collar bone! She started sticking a single finger in my mouth when talking - I've discovered if I pretended to bite it gently, I get peals of laughter.