Children and Biting

Children and biting or hitting are very closely associated. In the initial days, children resort to biting people in an attempt to communicate with others. Some children indulge in biting during the teething process or in an attempt to seek attention. Most children get over biting by the time they are ready for kindergarten. However for some of them, it may become a habit that is hard to kick off. As a loving parent, you can help your toddler to overcome his biting habit.

How to stop children from biting others

There are various ways you can stop children from biting others. Some tips that you can adopt for your child are:

• When you find your child's biting becoming too hard on his peers or others, move him aside and tell him "No Biting" in a firm voice. You may have to keep doing this often until your toddler realises that it is not right to bite others. Remember that being firm does not mean you have to be angry with your little one.
• If you continue paying attention to your child after he bites someone, he will associate biting as a means of seeking attention. Instead try to attend to the person who was bit and show how sorry you are about it. When your child sees that he is not attended to, he may stop biting. This approach is considered as a reverse psychological approach.
• Help your child to start talking soon. Talking children bite others lesser than those who cannot communicate with others.
• If you find that your child is about to bite someone, try to get him involved in some other activity. You can consider giving him a toy to play with.
• Tell your child that his teeth are meant for chewing food and not biting people.
• Always let the child know that when he bites others it often hurts them. You can say an "Ouch!" when he bites you to show how painful the bite was.
• Give your child a teether or some other hard object. Whenever he attempts to bite others, offer the teether to him. He will slowly lose interest in both the teether and biting.
• Do not shout at your child when he bites others. This will only frighten him and his biting can turn more aggressive.
• Make kissing fun for your child. He may start kissing others instead of biting!
• Be consistent in your approach with helping your child to overcome biting. Do not control biting in one instance and allow him to do so in another.

Video on Getting Children to Stop Biting Others

Most parents resort to mild biting or nibbling their children when they are bitten. This is done to make the child aware of how biting others can be painful. You may also nibble his toes to play with him. However, you should refrain yourself from this nibbling. It can have an adverse effect on your child and encourage him to continue biting others.