[The Girls]

Mummies,

I have a 9 month old little man and he has taken to biting. I have tried the stern "no biting" but he just laughs at me. I honestly think he is too young to understand.

I am still breastfeeding and can usually tell when he is going to bite so it does not happen often at the breast but he is biting my shoulder, arm, neck. He was just on the floor and crawled over to me, face down and went to bite my foot.

He has 6 teeth which he has had for a few months now and there are no signs of other teeth coming thru at this stage.

Hints ladies? I need to stop it before he bites my other son or someone elses poor little bubba.

[~ Binda ~]

When my DS went through the biting stage, around the same age as your son at the moment, I too would give him the stern "no" but I would also but him down on the floor and not hold him. This seemed to work much better than just the "no."

Good luck this age can be tricky as they don't quite understand but can still get up to a bit of mischief.

[lucky 2]

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/biting.html

[Guest_- Titanium -_*]

Normal behaviour.

My DS did the same at that age, was only for a short time thank god.

He did draw blood one time though so you have got to nip it in the butt before that happens!

He did it to try and communicate he was realy tired or sick etc

When he did it I would say no in a serious voice, put him down and walk away from him just so he understood that it was not ok and then I would pick him up and put him to bed etc.

Hopefully this stage passes quickly for you!

[AgEm_my_world]

Someone told me that her bub bit her around the same age and she yelled out ouch and took the baby off the breast and it never happend again.....

[jamdonut]

I honestly think he is too young to understand.

I saw this in recent topics and couldn't not reply, seeing as I freaked out when my DD started biting/scratching/hair pulling etc.

You're right - he's too young to understand that his behaviour is 'bad'. He thinks it is a great new game where his biting immediately inspires a 'funny' reaction from you.

I was so worried when DD started biting - I thought she'd end up being a biter and we'd have a major problem on our hands. Fortunately, she grew out of it just after her first birthday.

My advice? Try not to react when he bites. Easier said than done, I know, as it's quite painful. But do refrain from scolding or saying 'no' in an emphatic manner. I basically tried to just either remove DD from my vicinity or vice-versa. Eventually she tired of the game because I was no longer reacting to it. Also, they tend to find better things to do as they get older, like destroy everything in sight...

[WaffleGrrrl]

I'm not getting biting from my 9 month old, but am getting hair pulling and grabbing/pinching. I've tried saying "Ouch!" and giving her a stern look, but she just finds my reaction funny and does it again, as per the pp's.

Pretty standard for this age to not understand or to not listen to 'no'!

I am having better luck with not reacting and just redirecting her to something else.