How do you stop a 16 month old from biting? She is too young to reason with.....however.....she does understand it is wrong...at least I think she does. I think she doesn't understand it hurts.

While rocking this child and her 5 month old brother, (you know one of those loving, tender moments between a granny and her grandkids)he began to cry. When I looked down, she had his finger in her mouth and she was biting. This isn't the first time it has happened according to her mother. When I reprimanded her, she began to cry...turning purple around her mouth....(you know, really heartbroken or afraid, not sure which). About 15 minutes later, she was the only one on my lap and I thought that she was trying to sleep, well low and behold...she bit me.... Those tiny little kids have sharp teeth.

They haven't complained at daycare..but I'm afraid it is only a matter of time....Is there anything we can do?

When children bite

Biting Hurts!

Go 4 It... she'll grow out of it...

She needs to be bitten back. That's what my mom did to me and I never bit again.

Bite Back!

I remember picking up my daughter from daycare as a toddler and she was the victim of a biter and I tell you what....it doesn't bode well for the parents on the other end of the "mouth full of teeth".

I would encourage mom to discuss this with the babysitter to give her and the parents a heads up. My daughter never bit....she was too busy hitting!

My daughter (she's 3 1/2 now) was a biter and a hitter. We really struggled with her at daycare and at home. She's much better now, but it went on from about 15 months until age 3. Now, when she gets mad she'll say, "I'm going to bite!" but she doesn't. It just comes down to impulse control. There were some nights I would just cry after we got another "Bite Report" from daycare that told about how mean she was (she didn't just bite; she pushed, kicked, hit. It was awful!). I wish I had some advice on getting your granddaughter to stop but I don't. In our case, she's just grown up. I can only offer sympathy and hope that it's not as bad for you as it was for us.

This may sound kinda simple but...when my daughter bit, and she was around 16 to 18 months old, immediately she was told in a very stern voice, NO, No biting. Biting is bad and it hurts, if you are going to bite we will not play with you, and she was placed in a 'time out' place. Maybe I was just lucky, but after about 3 or 4 times, she stopped! My advice, NEVER bite them back, Good Lord, I would never think of biting my child. And yes, I have heard stories that this was a last resort and it worked, but it would not work for me. (not condeming or critizing, just saying I could not do it), I don't think 18 months is to young to understand that if I act in a certain way people will be mad at me! Good Luck!

Bite back, it works. It only has to be hard enough to get their attention.

I also agree - don't bite back, that doesn't really teach them anything except that it's ok to bite. Some kids bite more when they are teething - solutions there include giving them teethers (either the cold or the vibrating ones), orajel, pain relief, etc. Could be first or second year molars coming in, or eyeteeth, all of those are more painful than the rest of the teething process.

If it's not teething, a solution that a friend of mine with a biter uses is to gently flick the biter's cheek with your finger - it's startling, it stings a little, and it lets them know they are doing something wrong.

Good luck. I think most parents with toddlers know that biting is a phase that some kids go through.

Biting back worked for one of our four! The other three did not do it.

Thanks everyone for the input. I too think that this is just a phase.....but it isn't a very good one. Hopefully, it ends soon....

We use the same approach as Ex Govt Babe. Immediately,explain that the behavior hurts the other person and a time out. We do this for all behavior issues.

The assumption is that there is someone around with the authority to do it. Don't know all the facts but the average daycare may not be equipped for this type of corrective action.

Explaining to children how their behavior affects the other person is effective for us. Yes, the explanations can take some time and they have to be gone over a few times, but in the long run the payoff is worth it. If you don't think an 18 or 24 month old can "understand" you may be pleasantly surprised.

Don't give up, you're only given the challenges you can handle.

Our daughters have been the victims in most cases, but the youngest did bite once after getting bitten.

Our daycare does their best to explain to the child and then they let the parent know. I know when Kels did it, I talked with her quite a bit about it and she hasn't done it again (at least as far as I know).

They can understand what you are telling them, it just may take more than one time to get it to sink in.

I also think it depends sometimes on the situation they are in. If they are stressed or overwhelmed they may see that as their way out or as a way to get attention.

Good luck...like all other phases it will pass in time, just hopefully sooner rather than later!

I have a different scenario. My son and nephew (2 months apart in age) go to same family friend during the workday. My nephew bites my son all the time, often when I'm changing him into his jammies, I'll notice teeth marks on his shoulder. My sister isn't there to discipline her son. I'm wondering if I should say something to day care lady.

Oh, my sister knows all right, I'm always ranking on her to tell her son to stop biting. When we're all together, my nephew usually goes to bite my son after he's stolen a toy from him so we stop it before it happens. They're both 2 so it's difficult to get them to understand.

This seemingly simple concept of "not biting" is a message that needs to be communicated. What will work with your situation is hard to tell. But keep trying.

If you can get them to get this message, following messages will be easier. Keep trying! It's like when you were in school and forgot your locker combination. Sooner or later, you get the right combination. Don't give up!

One of my co-workers had the same problem. Her sister's child...get this....(6 years old) was biting her daughter....(8 years old)....EVERYTIME they were together. She said that it was terrible. She could not pick up her child from the grandmother, who was sitting at the time, without finding bite marks on her arm, face, shoulder, legs, stomach....just where ever.

Her sister knew....but that did little good. Finally, the children were separated by schoold districts as well as sitters.

Now they get together, but the older child has learned to stop the biting before it actually happens...I think she knocks the tar out of the other.... (Not very nice,but it apparently works)

My baby sitters child (who is the same age as my child) used to bite all the time when they were around 18 months. My baby sitter would have my child bite her back (he had never bit anyone before.) After several months of this behavior, my son started biting! So biting back is not always the answer. When he bit me one day, my instant reaction was a quick slap across the mouth. He has never bit again. Good Luck!

Any updates to this situation?

I'm on full Mama Bear Alert right now, just got a call from daycare that the Junebug got bitten. A couple of weeks back she was bitten 2x in one week, and the 2nd bite was hard enough that a week later you could still see a perfect mouth shaped mark on her arm. I've already spoken to the Director (my primary point was to let her know we were less than pleased with this) and the kids involved are not "known biters" [ie, bite repeatedly or bite more than one child within a period]. But still. This IS the Junebug they are messing with. Luckily she is moving out of this classroom into the next on Monday and will be leaving the biter behind (verified.) Her father is threatening to teach her to punch someone in the nose......

Call me old fashioned, but I think dad SHOULD teach her how to defend herself.

Oh he will, we just thought 18 months was a BIT young to learn that......

Believe me I have been there, done that. The first time my daughter was bit I was very upset, but shortly thereafter she became the "biter". I really don't think that she learned how to do it from being bit once. It was very easy for me to be upset when she was bit. But being on the other side of the fence also taught me that we can't always control everything. Believe me....I felt really bad that my child hurt someone else, I was beside myself wondering what I could do to keep her from doing it again. Then a friend reminded me that if you have a room full of children that are together, something is going to happen. Someone is going to get a scratch, get hit, get bit or fall down. It is inevitable. Especially at this age when they don't know how to verbalize well.

Until these little ones can verbalize that this toy is "MINE" etc. it is bound to happen. The teachers should be keeping a close eye on the situation but they can't prevent everything. Things happen. Try not to get too upset at the other child or at the care providers, the important thing is to know that the other child was "talked" to about the behavior, given a time out, (whatever the center's policy is) and the care providers were paying attention to the children at the time of the incident.