Ouch! My 9 mo. old likes to bite!

[mergirl]

My nine month old DS loves to give playful bites. The problem is, his teeth are really sharp and it hurts! He loves to crawl up to us and pull up and bite my DH and I in the leg, or in the arm or shoulder when we carry him.

I sternly say "No! Biting hurts mommy!" but he thinks that is so funny and laughs and laughs.

He's not teething..... he just really loves to bite!

[thedenverduo]

9 months may be a little young for this idea depending on your babe, but I'll tell you anyhow in case it helps! I have a very dear friend who has a 13 month old son who also loved to bite. She did a bit of research and decided it might be a sensory thing. So she did 2 things. 1) She stopped reacting strongly when her ds would bite her. If he bit her she would put him down or move away, but not exclaim anything. 2) She started carrying snacks with her... I seem to remember her have a little tupperware of diced up apples, but I think any food would work. And when ds would bite her she would just say "Teeth are for chewing!" and give him the snack.

It worked great for her! HTH!

[mergirl]

I don't think the snack thing would work because he absolutely hates solids and won't eat them unless they are blended down to almost a liquid.

But I think I'll try not reacting and see what happens. Today I was sitting in a chair and he was standing holding onto the chair and happily biting into the cushion over and over again- he seemed to get a thrill out of it!

[dachshund mom]

I have a baby that bites for fun, more so if teething. I make a sad face, and calmly say "that hurts mommy", and set her down. She rarely does it anymore, so it must be working. DH used to always yell OUCH and I think she thought that was funny and was making her bite more.

I'm trying to get away from saying No ____. You don't want to overuse "No" or they tune it out, and it's confusing to little babies. So I say "the water bowl is for doggies" rather than "no! don't play in the water" or "be gentle" rather than "no hitting". We're new to discipline, I'm not sure if this is the right way to do it.