My two year old is biting everything... 4 other kids yesterday at school, the cat, me, and himself! They almost sent us home from school yesterday because he was so out of control. Then they gave hom something to bite on when he felt like biting. It seemed to work. However, I feel like he is too old for a teether? Am I wrong? At school they are convinced that it is related to the fact that we are still breastfeeding. I think it is because his dad came to visit last weekend after not having seen him since last summer. Also he may be getting two -year molars, gums on bottom in back are swollen (I think). Don;t know what t do about it. Any advice? He understands that he shouldn';t be biting, he is also able to talk about the biting after the fact- if I ask him what he did to the cat he says he bit her. He told me who he bit yesterday and even talked about the fact that they certain kids cried after he bit them. Am I raising the Marquis De Sade or is this normal two-year old behavior? Had
I think that it is pretty normal. Especially if he is teething. Those molars can be very painful. The breastfeeding theory is ridiculous, IMO. When Virginia (also 2) gets mad she will bite whatever she is holding on to...sometimes her own arm. But, she has never hurt herself! You just have to be consistent and redirect him to something that is appropriate for biting-crackers, a washcloth, etc. I doubt he's trying to hurt anyone/thing (poor kitty!) but when little ones can't express themselves, they get VERY frustrated and usually resort to physical means of releasing their emotions.
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BREASTFEEDING!!!! What kind of training does your day care center have to say such a thing? JEEZ. Kids bite objects because they are teething, they bite people due to frustration, missing mom, being overwelmed, loud enviroments, too much stimulation ect. My second child bit at about this age. I was working day care, and it was TOO LOUD, there were too many kids, she was overstimulated and she needed MORE of my time. I was told I could quit, or stay and not bring Moon back with me. I QUIT. It was the BEST decision I ever made. Moon stopped biting almost immediately. She had more of my time, she was not overwelmed by a loud, overcrowed enviroment, and she was much more relaxed. Take a good, hard, objective look at the enviroment your baby is in. Is is somewhere that stresses him? Sounds like it. Their understanding of breastfeeding ALONE would make me pull him out of that place. Maybe he needs a quieter, more child freindly atmosphere. Maybe it is time for a change. Blessings
I had a biter too. You see other kids who bite and think, "not my baby! I'd never tolerate a biter!" and then your sweet little dumpling turns into a biter. :& My third was the most vicious biter, he bit me, his brothers and sisters, strangers, the dog, my brothers, anybody and anything he could get his mouth around. It has nothing to do with him being breastfed, most people don't understand that the natural age for weaning is actually around 4 years old. And bottlefed toddlers can turn into voracious biters as well. I tmight have something to do with his Dad visiting and him not being able to verbalize his emotions about that. MOST likely it has everything to do with his molars coming in, and it just feels good to bite down on anything in range. I think most kids go through a biting phase. 2 year olds haven't quite grown out of the exploring with their mouths phase, and now that they have teeth, they can get quite a reaction from their subjects! "I wonder how you taste, hmmmm. Let's see if you make that funny noise when I bite you.....!" It's normal (but not desirable) behavior. Redirect his little teeth and give him something else to bite on. Juice popsicles are good because it numbs his gums and gives him something he can bite. And keep nursing him, it feels good on sore gums.
Right! He is not too old for a teether. I remember my biter, Moon, was nearly 4 and would say "I really need to bite on something!" and I would always have a frozen teether for her in the freezer. She still NEEDED it, she was a very oral child and still put things into her mouth well into grade school. When I got her out of the stressful enviroment, and let her have lots of safe things to bite, the biting stopped. (We did also discuss how it hurt people when you bit them!) It's funny, because she is now 16, and she relates to our dog as a dog. She bites him, like a puppy, not hard, but in play. Mouth filled with dog hair. Bleh. It doesn't bother her!
My son was a biter. He actually use to gnaw on any person but once his teeth came in it became a problem for a little. Had all checked and they could not find any reason medically such as dental or jaw...so worked on it as a behaviour issue. I do not believe in spanking or hitting so started with short time outs, removing him, trying to distract and even give him something that was ok to bite. A friend of mine suggested that each time he bit, I make him bite a piece of lemon as punishment. The biting stopped after two times. The lemon did not hurt him but he hated it enough that he was not taking any chances I guess...
Noah loves to bite... I watched and noticed it is because his brother doesn't always share nicely and sometimes takes things away from him...at first I thought Croix was just getting bit for no reason but I started watching very closely when they thought my back was turned(ex, like when I'd be filling cups I'd turn while they thought I wasn't turned). Croix is a sneaky one! lol Ask the teachers to watch closely to see why he bit those kids, he seems smart because he will acknowledge who he actually bit... maybe they were being mean to him? I doubt he'd do it for no reason at all! Maybe, like the others said its just not the right place for him.
