biting

[Tracie2002]

hi
i have 3 children 5,2,1 my 2 year old keeps biting and i dont know what to do you say no and it is just like he dose not hear you ! this morning he bit my 1 year old daughter on the hand and drew blood any advice would be great
Tracie

Hi Tracie, I am having the same problem. My 2 year old daughter bites at nursery, and she bites and pinches me too.

I have started trying using the "naughty step". Once she has bitten/pinched me, I look her in the eye and say if you do that again, you will go on the naughty step. If it comes to the naughty step which it invariably does, she stays there for 2 minutes.

I think the message is getting through!

Good Luck! I am hoping it is just a phase!!

You need to nip it (no pun intended) in the bud. He obviously does not realise at 2 that it is painful and unacceptable so you need to help him make this link. With dd1, as soon as she did it (and it does need to be immediate because they have little concept of next time etc.) I would get down, look her in the eyes and say "NO, that hurts." and put her into her room. Wherever they are put has to have very little "fun" factor and be completely away from the rest of the family. If she did it "in public" I would do the same and remove her completely from any exciting stimulation - into a hallway, another room, even back into the car. They learn the link between unacceptable behaviour and being removed from others very quickly. It's also a self-reinforcing policy because if he bites other people, they won't want to be around him and will give him a wide berth too. It felt a bit tough for such a small child, but it was worth it. I've seen other parents who are less firm or consistent end up with real problems. BTW - this is just a phase, all children do it to some extent! If you stay firm, he'll get the message. Hope this helps!