Hi everyone. I have two year old BBG trips, and one of my boys is a major biter. In fact, today he drew blood on his brother's face. I am at my wits end on what to do with him. I've tried everything I can think of to try to correct this behavior, but nothing seems to sink in. Can anyone offer any suggestions to help me stop the biting?

Please don't think I am cruel with this suggestion, I have not done it myself, just heard of it!

I heard a story of a woman who mixes vinegar, water, and either paprika, or a spice or a seasoning that doesn't taste good (something natural). She uses it when her daughters are being ugly and rude or fighting with one another. She has sprayed it in their mouth. Because it doesn't taste good at all, all she has to do is warn them about it and they straighten up. Maybe you could spray after you find out he bites one time and then if you are able to catch him before he bites, may be you can warn him or remind him of what is to come if he bites?

This woman calls it "Sassy Spray" because she has 2 girls, but you could name it anything?

Good luck!

Rachel

BGG 3/20/07 - 32 weeks

Chase 4 lbs
Carolyn 4 lbs 1 oz
Charlene 2 lbs 11 oz

www.chapmancrew.blogspot.com

We did vinegar and things have improved. I walk them into the kitchen and have them sit for time out and I put about 1ml of vinegar in one of their little medicine syringes and shoot it in their mouth, of course telling them all the while that we do not bite and biting hurts. (The first day, this was done A LOT and I had to look up how much vinegar it would take to make a person sick, but it turns out it is actually a quite good for you.) A few weeks later we have occasional bites, but this is a VAST improvement from where we were. I have also heard of Tabasco, lemon juice and hot sauce, thankfully the vinegar has worked for us.

Best of luck,
Nic

We do "sit-outs". Basically a time out. We have a chair in the playroom that has a booster seat strapped on to it (we made sure it is very different from their highchairs so they wouldn't get confused). If the babies bite or hit each other, they go in the chair for 1 minute. We started when they were a year old and it worked for two of my triplets after only a couple days. For the third, we had to increase the time to 5 minutes. I make sure that EVERYONE (dad, grandma, etc.) is super consistent with them. They bite or hit and I immediately say, "No hurting" and put them in the chair. I don't say anything else. Even negative attention is attention, yelling at them could make them want to do it again. I make sure to play with other two babies a lot while the other one is in sit-out so they feel like they are missing out.

The MOST important part of using sit-out or time-out, it ONLY works if time-in is more fun then time-out. The first few days you are using time-out you should make time-in (time-in is all time they are not in time-out) filled with lots of attention and fun. Give them tons and tons of attention when they are being good, and absolutely no attention when time-out. Seriously, like with toilet training, pick a few days where teaching them this will be your main focus...you have to be able to catch EVERY instance of biting or hitting in the beginning. SHOWER them with attention (get extra help if possible, turn off phone, computer, etc., let the laundry sit) for the couple of days that you are doing this. Once they learn the difference, you can go back to your normal activities and keep doing time-out when they misbehave.

Also, preventative stuff: you could give him teethers, cloths, and other stuff that he can bite. Don't do it in response to him biting, but across the day show him things that he can bite (in case he's getting his two-year molars). Also try to figure out why he's biting (to try to get to his sibling's toy, to try to get a big reaction, to get attention, because he's mad, etc.) Once you know why he is doing it, you can try to teach him better ways (a special word he can use like "cuddles" when he wants attention from you, how to ask for a toy and make sure that when he bites he doesn't get that toy after, how to tell you he's angry, etc.)

Good luck!

We had a biter too. We tried everything(time-outs, apple cider vinegar, and even spanking) nothing worked. So one day he bit one of his siters so hard that it drew blood. I made a decision that I was trying to put off for as long as I could, but I finally bite him myself. It wasn't a hard bite just it was just enough for him to feel a little pressure. He stopped bitting. A few months later he was back at it. I skipped all the other forms of discipline we had tried and went straight to the one that worked. I bit him for a second time. He has never bitten again. It's been about 6 months now.

I truly believe that he did not know what it felt like to be bitten therefore he wasn't aware of how much it hurt.

Tabitha - Parrish - Chloe
01/01/2007

I, too, tried everything. Time outs, talking to her, take things away, seperation, etc. I finally resorted to cayanne sauce (not Tabasco). Just hot enough to leave an impression but not so hot as to burn up their mouth. She stopped immediately and never did it since. I think biting is serious and this was the only thing that worked.

Stephanie

Mama to Beautiful Quads
30 weeks, 5 days

and ^Angel Baby^ 1/05