{"id":2243,"date":"2019-05-23T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/?p=2243"},"modified":"2019-09-27T08:52:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T15:52:30","slug":"taming-the-biting-todder-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/taming-the-biting-todder-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Taming the Biting Toddler"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Having a toddler who bites is the worst \u2013 it\u2019s frustrating and can be embarrassing! I know this well. One of my kids seemed to think he was a vampire.<\/p>\n<p>If your child is biting, you\u2019re not alone! Many young children go through a biting phase, and almost all bite at some point during their first three years. Biting often peaks between 15 to 36 months. It usually\u00a0happens when toddlers are frustrated or overwhelmed, not because they\u2019re mean. At this age, it\u2019s hard for children to\u00a0use words\u00a0to tell a buddy they want the toy back. Biting makes the point.<\/p>\n<p>However, biting is unacceptable. You need to help your child stop. You can do this by setting clear expectations, limits, and consequences \u2013 a parenting technique that will be useful to you for years to come. Your best ally in this situation is your own smart toddler! They\u2019re able to learn to stop biting if you guide them through it \u2013 by talking with them before and after situations when they bite.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say your son bites his pal Noah when they play in the park. Talk to your son before your next trip to the park.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Explanation:\u00a0<\/strong>Tell him\u00a0in simple words that biting hurts and is not okay. \u201cBiting hurts. No biting.\u201d \u201cPeople are not for biting.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expectation:\u00a0<\/strong>Tell him that when you go to the park, you want him to be sure <em>not to bite<\/em> Noah, and you know he will do a good job at this! Remind him to use his words. Role play an example:\u00a0say \u201cMy toy,\u201d\u00a0or\u00a0\u201cMy turn.\u201d Tell him to come get you if he needs help.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Limit:\u00a0<\/strong>Tell him that he can&#8217;t bite Noah, even once.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consequence:\u00a0<\/strong>Tell him that if he does bite, you\u2019ll\u00a0have to take him home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At the park, try to catch him doing a good job. Tell him how proud you are of him for not biting Noah. Remind him to use words if he wants something, or to come get you if he needs your help.<\/p>\n<p>If he does bite, tell him it\u2019s time to leave because he bit Noah. He\u2019ll probably\u00a0protest, but\u00a0calmly gather your things and leave.\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0give in and stay at the park.<\/p>\n<p>To help him learn from his error:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Check in with the other child before you leave. This will accomplish two things. First, it models empathy and caring so that your child can see how they might\u00a0make it right. Also, biting can be a way for a child to get extra attention from adults \u2013 focusing the attention on the other child avoids that secondary gain.<\/li>\n<li>Talk later about what happened when he\u2019s calm. Tell him you know he\u2019ll do a better job next time!<\/li>\n<li>Read books together about biting.<\/li>\n<li>Consider giving him a teething ring to bite the next time he gets the urge. You can even attach it to his clothing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are other times toddlers may bite. Pay extra attention if your child is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Overwhelmed by a stimulating environment<\/li>\n<li>Overtired or hungry<\/li>\n<li>Teething<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When dealing with a biting toddler, remember this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t bite them back! This only models behavior you want to discourage. Corporal punishment in general makes biting worse.<\/li>\n<li>Be sure that all of your child&#8217;s caregivers understand this and respond consistently. If parents interfere with or criticize each other&#8217;s discipline, the child can feel increased tension \u2013 leading to more aggression and biting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Biting isn\u2019t always intentional. It doesn\u2019t mean your child is\u00a0\u201cbad.\u201d It only means that they need to learn a new way of handling frustration or challenging situations. It rarely causes serious injury or poses any health risk. It occurs as part of a normal developmental phase and doesn\u2019t predict aggression later in life. Most children stop biting on their own \u2013 my\u00a0\u201cvampire\u201d certainly did!<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was originally published August 28, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having a toddler who bites is the worst \u2013 it\u2019s frustrating and can be embarrassing! I know this well. One of my kids seemed to think he was a vampire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[454],"tags":[80,391,61,79],"class_list":["post-2243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","tag-child-biting","tag-how-to-help-biting-child","tag-parenting","tag-toddler","ages-toddler"],"metadata":{"_vc_post_settings":["a:1:{s:10:\"vc_grid_id\";a:0:{}}"],"_edit_lock":["1569599416:18"],"_edit_last":["18"],"slide_template":["default"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["454"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["289"],"_thumbnail_id":["472"],"wpfp_favorites":["391"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.760000000000002;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.379999999999995;}"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2243"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2245,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243\/revisions\/2245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}