biting mama before bed?

[dividedsky]

both of my boys (17mos) have been biting me before bed lately. it's such a weird thing and is totally not cool!

i lay down and snuggle with them/pat their tushies until they go to sleep. but before they can get to the point where they can fall asleep, they bite me! one, gently with his eyes closed. the other bites harder and laughs maniacally when i tell him no or try to re-route him (surprise, he's a toddler, everything is hilarious ).

i'm laying with them on a futon that is relatively low, with a fold-out chair/bed thingie on the floor in case anyone pops out of bed. so i've been telling the one who is biting at the time no, with a couple of warnings, and then setting him down on the floor. eventually they'll just nuzzle in and fall asleep. but how do i gently discourage the biting? i can't really see another solution, and putting them down makes them cry in a very sad and tired-sounding way. would love to hear suggestions. it's tough, because they're not quite old enough to understand that it's not funny - it hurts! and the weird thing is that they're not biters during the day - just before bed and they only bite me.

ideas? suggestions? or am i doing the right thing? thoughts?

[mamacolleen]

I have the same issue with my 11mo DD... except she is biting me at naptime and not bedtime. I posted a question about it in the GD forum recently with no responses.

I have no idea what it's about.... she reacts in the same way with hysterical laughter when I tell her that biting mama hurts me and try to show her 'gentle touch' instead. I think she might be cutting another tooth, but I don't know if it's related.

I'm just trying to not really react too much other than to move her head gently out of the way (repeatedly!!) and hope that she grows bored of it soon.

[honeybunmom]

My 14 mos old has been biting me, mostly on the nose, occasionally on the shoulder, for at least 2 mos. Wish I knew what that was about. And, no, I don't bite him on his, or even otherwise play with his nose.