Parenting Challenges

Biting can be common for babies and very young children.

Reasons children bite:

1. Teething
2. Exploring.
3. Needing attention.
4. Imitating others.

Observe your child carefully. Answer these questions to think about ways to prevent biting:

1. When and under what circumstances does biting occur?
2. Who is she biting?
3. How does your child react when the child he has bitten becomes upset?
4. Is biting worse at certain times of the day?

Some of the triggers of biting can be prevented:

1. Give your child something to chew on, like a soft cloth or teething ring.
2. Reduce the frustrations of sharing toys by having extras of popular toys (for example, have enough balls for every child) or having other options available.
3. Provide close supervision.
4. Keep the daily routine predictable.
5. Be patient and consistent.
6. Give the child lots of positive attention throughout the day when she is not biting.
7. Help your child understand other ways to express feelings of frustration or anger, through healthy communication and positive discipline.
8. Don’t bite back! While it may seem like biting back will discourage your child from doing it again, he will probably feel encouraged to imitate you and keep biting.