Should I teach 9 MO to stop biting or will it pass?

[oolongtea]

I don't let DS (9 mo) bite during nursing (he has 4 teeth), but I had been letting other biting slide, figuring it'd be tricky to teach him the difference between my shoulder and the strap of the Ergo, or a finger vs a toy. But I'm covered in bruises and the biting really hurts. It's like my shoulder is meat and he's trying to tear a piece off. It's teething-related I'm sure -- yesterday he didn't do it at all and today it's nonstop. So do I try to teach him to stop biting humans, or just try to dodge his teeth and it'll pass naturally?

[hakeber]

Sure it might pass, but in the meantime you...what, get to be a human teething ring? I don't think so! If you can teach him not to bite you while nursing it shouldn't be too hard for him to learn not to bite other parts of your body.

I think you are underestimating his intelligence to assume he cannot tell the difference between your shoulder and an inanimate object. It's not that confusing. You cannot let your baby keep hurting you, and anyone else he gets his teeth on for that matter. Just gently but firmly say NO! and remove him from the bitable body part. I put my ds down in his exersaucer, and kept eye contact, and then after a wee while I'd pick him up and try again. It didn't take him long to cotton on, and FWIW he has never had a biting problem with his peers or cousins.