Biting

I think I have a biter. Lucy is just 10 months and she leads with her mouth when she climbs on things. When she climbs on us, many times she bites us. Also, a few times when we've told her 'no' she'll turn to us and try to bite. Most of the time she doesn't realize she's doing it -like when she's climbing on us-but I'm constantly nervous because I've been bit so many times already?

So my main goal in anything to do with parenting - is to really communicate an idea. You want your children to learn because they understand. And its hard to get little ones to understand.

A silly, simple solution is to put her own arm in the way of her biting mouth. This is a way to help them understand the consequence. Saying, "Ouch," when nothing is hurting them doesn't really make a lot of sense. But, if they see that what they are doing isn't fun. Of course, there are some kids who seem to hurt themselves when they are angry - banging their heads, biting their arm...and if your child does this - then I wouldn't use this idea. Because they need to learn how to be kind to their bodies. Isn't it interesting how different we all are...

I also try to keep their mouth open and not let them bite at all. Pushing down on their lower teeth - and saying calmly, "Teeth are for biting food, not people."

What do you do?