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Monday, May 4, 2009

Hmft...biting sucks.

So, what do you do when you have a biter? I thought I had nipped this in the butt the 1st time it happened. Sofi would bite feet. This time, it is Ian's arm. I know it happens when they are vying for the same toy but anyone that has more than 1 kid knows that fighting for toys is a constant battle. I need to get her to stop. She has left bite marks on each of his arms. It looks bad, like I'm not watching them but I am. She is quick! For the record, she doesn't seem to want to bite Gabi either. I think she knows that Ian is the weakest of the 3.

Any suggestions on how to make this stop? Please leave a comment!

Of course, I have to write more! The kids seem to have gone through a pretty serious growth spurt. Their legs are much longer, looking more like kid legs than baby legs. Gabi has even lost 1 set of rolls! She has started walking as well. That makes 2 for 3. Here is a video of her practicing (don't mind Miss Sofi, apparently she likes the spotlight).



Ian is also doing much better. He is pulling up on just about anything. He is still a bit wobbly though & we attribute that to balance or core strength issues. He continues to wear shoes all day to help him w/ standing. He will have 2 therapy sessions on the 12th. They will assess his needs again & will decide if he needs more services. Also, I am weaning him. I really wanted to go longer but unfortunately I am battling mastitis again. They say once you get it, you are much more prone to getting it over & over. Hence, my decision to wean him. He has been fighting me anyway, probably more so b/c he is cutting 2 teeth. It is what it is. Since he is the only one left, I figure it is time.


Sofi experienced her 1st split lip about a week ago. She fell while she was walking & cut her upper & lower lip on her teeth. She was a bit hysterical at first but Daddy did a good job patching her up & stopping the bleeding.


This weekend is their birthday party so I am going to be pretty busy but looking forward to it!

7 comments:

Kristy Wilder said...

Hi Astrid, We use what I call sassy sauce (1 tsp white vinegar). We use it for biting, talking back, ugly or unkind words. Good luck.

Shosh said...

I had a biter. You'll be happy to know that he is 6 now and he doesnt bite anymore!!

At this age, I really think there is not so much you can do. She's still a baby!

The soap in the mouth, vinegar, tobasco sauce rubs me the wrong way, even for an older child. But in my opinion, a 1 year old is WAY too young for that for sure. I would just say "NO" in a harsh way so she knows you arent kidding. Remove her from the area. Give a lot of attention to the baby who got hurt. You might have to do it a bunch of times but hopefully she'll eventually learn! But like all baby/toddler discipline....it takes a long time. They just arent emotionally mature enough yet to "learn their lesson." And btw, some people get very nervous about the "human bite" but my 6 year old bit his brother more times than I care to remember and his brother is just fine!

Good luck! Your babies are adorable!

Annie said...

I have one biter, too (Sofia). We said No (hard) and talk to her.

Have a nice week.

2SetsOfTwins4Me said...

My twins are almost 5 years old and they still bite but its usually on a very rare occasion. They were the worst from ages 1-3, it wasn't till they got their speech down good enough before they started outgrowing it.
When babies/toddlers can't talk that great and they get upset its common for them to take their frusteration and anger out on things by biting, hitting,etc because of lack of verbal communication.
With time it gets better.
At their age i only said no in a firm voice and showed them the bite mark and said "we don't bite" and just redirected them to something else. When they were alot older, i would put them in time out because they knew better.
Never put anything on their mouths.

Just don't overreact to it because sometimes kids pick up on that and will do it more when they get a reaction.

Sorry i don't have much advice and hopefully they won't do it very much.

2SetsOfTwins4Me said...

oops ment to say i never put anything in their mouths, the way i worded it above made it sound like i was telling you what not to do.

Andrea said...

hey astrid,

i've worked with lots of little ones and i have to agree with the method that Shosh gave. it does take a long time and the phases come and go. and just when you "fix" one, another one starts! but believe me, anyone who knows what kids this age are like knows that those bites happen so fast. even if you could have your eyes glued on all 3 at once!

Astrid said...

Thank you all for your words of wisdom!