Help me with my biting 20 month old!

[NoTeaForMe]

Help!

My daughter is biting and I don't know how to stop her. At the moment I am saying no and putting her on the floor and the walking away, she sits there-sometimes stands up and shuffles about-and then I go and say you mustn't bite Mummy, it's not nice. She says sorry and gives me a cuddle and we move on. I know that some of you will think she's too young for this but I don't know what else to do...!

She hasn't bitten anyone but me and DH yet but I fear it's only a matter of time!

She really is such a lovely girl but this is starting to get to me as its a handful of times every day!

Help!

Hi, Dd's just come out of a biting phase, she's now 22 months.

The strategy that worked for me was saying calmly 'i'm not playing if you're biting' and disengaging/putting her down if possible.

It worked really quickly, I think it's an affection thing and they really don't realise.

Now when she lunges for my face it's to give a big kiss! I sometimes say 'kisses' to remind her, just in case, but no bites for weeks now.

Hope this helps!
Ps she never bit anyone but me and DP either.

My DD2 used to bite me and DD1. In fact DD1 got the worst of it. The phase seemed to pass though when her speech got more developed and she could express herself more.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for your replies!

She does bite out of anger unfortunately. She occasionally hits too and that is definately half the time anger and half the time just overcome with some emotion and hits out as she doesn't know what to do with it!! With the hitting we've ignored the times it's playing or over emotional (not sure how to explain that one!) and told off the bad. It seemed to really help, she doesn't do it as much and it doesn't register with me as much.

However, the biting is all anger. I know she gets cross an frustrated at times and that can lead to the bites but using know how to explain to her that she can't do that to people. She has excellent language (I know I'm probably biased as her Mum but lots of people say it) and she signs too. Obviously there is still huge limitations though!

Help!

No Tea For Me: I think your DD is like my DD2. Although DD2 could talk really well I think she couldn't say the words fast enough or quite get the right words out and her sister was obviously able to being 3 years older so the teeth would be used to make her point!

Sounds like that's what your DD is doing as she's not biting anyone else.

DD2 once bit her sister on the bum cheek in the bath because DD1 wasn't giving her enough room to be a mermaid...

What you're doing sounds right as long as you're using a firm enough tone of voice.
And say: " No, that hurts"
For what it's worth, I did this with my daughter when she was only just over 1 and bashed a baby over the head with a spoon. ( I was mortified) And it worked.
She is now 14 and I have never had to tell anything twice. She is of course unusual and my other two have needed a few more goes to make things stick, but I think it proves that even very young children can understand that kind of direct instruction.So you mustn't feel that you are being too hard on her. As her language is advanced too she might quite likely pick up on any ambiguity you have about telling her off.
Can you anticipate when it's going to happen and give her a look -stern, eye-brows raised, while saying her name, to warn her off before she does it. (hard to explain, easier to do)

I used to say "Don't bite me!" put ds and down like you do and walk off.

Thanks, it's good to hear that I'm not alone and that I'm doing theright kind of thing. I thought I was but sometimes feel I can be a bit tough on her, not helped by spending the day with a friend who allows her 2year old to run riot! I know she thinks I'm harsh! I don't really think I am, I think children need boundaries etc and biting and hitting absolutely crosses that line!