Vampire baby! Post Reply

[twinmum]

One of my (15 month old) twins has started biting his brother and yesterday he actually broke the skin on my thigh - ouch! - when he wanted me to pick him up. I screamed and he got a proper telling off (I'm normally a softie I must confess so we was completely shell shocked by this reponse, cue much sobbing from him too so then we both felt awful).

When we stop him biting, he then bites either his teddy or even on occasion his own hand! So he clearly loves sinking his teeth into things currently. The only thing he doesn't enjoy biting is the teething rings I've given him. Sigh...

I'm worried that he might start biting other kids at the playgroups we go to. He's always been such a good boy, I now feel completely at a loss to know how to discipline such a young child but clearly I need to take action quickly on this and would LOVE some tips from anyone who might have had a similar problem.

Please tell me it is a phase that won't last long!!!

[lythwood]

I have had a biting baby and it is really difficult so I feel for you. So many people offered me advice to bite him back - but I just couldn't do it! Apart from it feeling completely wrong - surely you are just teaching him that mummy bites too?

Anyway, my son starting biting at about one and is about to turn two and now very very rarely does it. So my thoughts are that, as with most habits, it was just a phase. He tended to do it when specific teeth were coming through or as a defence when another child was taking a toy from him. I have just tried to be consistent and say "no biting" very firmly and from about 18 months, put him in time out.

My advice is do what you think is best and stick with it. So many children go through it, you will probably find that he is bitten, hit, pinched himself before he ever bites another child!

[twinmum]

Thank you - good to know! Did it come and go with teething?

And that should say 'he was shell shocked' not 'we was' of course... Fat fingers!

[schmee]

Twins quite often bite each other at that age, partly as they are trying to work out where the boundaries between them are - sounds wierd but I think it true. Same reason that little ones will quite often hit their mother but not anyone else.

Mine never bit other children, and because they "practiced" on each other, they learnt quickly in the home environment what was ok and what wasn't.

Sounds like you are doing completely the right thing - being really firm without overreacting. They'll soon grow out of it.