My son Jaws...doh! I mean Jack.

[BethMae]

HELP. What do I do? He's biting me, he is nine months old and I don't want to flick him on the nose or hit him or do anything physical to "punish" him. What can I do to make him stop? He doesn't understand what he's doing, so I have tried saying "Ouch!" and "No Biting!" and "Stop", but nothing is working. He just wants something to bite and I happen to be the most convenient thing. Any suggestions?

 

[Leanna]

Yup I feel ya. David bit me too. What about time outs?

 

[BethMae]

Yup I feel ya. David bit me too. What about time outs?

Does that work for 9 month olds? (well, he's 8 months and three weeks)

 

[bliz]

A loud and sharp "No! No biting!" accompanied by picking him up and/or removing yourself from him can be very effective. He may be startled and cry.

He is, as we all were when we were children, convinced that he is the center of the universe. He may experience pain, but the notion that he can cause pain to others is a new idea.

 

[Linnis]

A very loud 'NO!" in a stern clear voice. Not in your mommy voice but in your angry voice. Most little babies don't like that & will stop.

I also agree with bliz, he may not understand that you hurt.

 

[Leanna]

Does that work for 9 month olds? (well, he's 8 months and three weeks)

It depends on who you ask. I think David by that age had had 3 timeouts total in his young life and they definitely worked for me. He wanted to be with mommy all the time and if biting causes him to not be with mommy then its a bad thing. But I also agree with the startling "no!" that might work also.

 

[NiteClerk]

While I don't recommend this, here's a story.
I was standing outside talking to my grandmother when I felt a wasp sting my thigh. Without looking or thinking I swung my hand down hard to swat it away. *Thwap* There goes my nephew flying head over heals. He had been in the habbit of biting people to get attention. That cured it.

Pax;

BoB

 

[Addicted2~Jesus]

DWT

I don't think time-outs send the right message at 8 er 9 months old personnaly, an not wantin to return physical discomfort limits your options I think, bunch if not all kids go through a bitin stage if you will an I think it depends on the will of the yougin as far as how long they stay in that stage. We've always used some form of physical discomfort in conjunction wit loud no's etc, if you don't wanna swat, er flick er bite back, if you see the bite comin you can give a body part to em that will crub his bitin, though first rub some sort of hotsauce er pepper on the area an member not to touch your er his eyes etc an of course make sure it's not so dern hot it'd take a week to go away. I'll grant you though, this falls back on physical discomfort which you've said you didn't wanna do.

 

[Katydid]

Actually, the two children I have that went through a biting stage were the two that didn't breastfeed. I honestly have an idea as to why.

With my son that was breastfed, he bit me while feeding, I was so shocked that I screamed OW, and immediately put him down and walked away for about 10 minutes. I had to because I was bleeding. He never bit after that.

While I know that this isn't your situation, the same applies, say OW and then isolate him for a few minutes. The isolation in conjunction with the bite will let him know that to do this means a complete lack of any attention what so ever.

 

[Leanna]

Actually, the two children I have that went through a biting stage were the two that didn't breastfeed. I honestly have an idea as to why.

With my son that was breastfed, he bit me while feeding, I was so shocked that I screamed OW, and immediately put him down and walked away for about 10 minutes. I had to because I was bleeding. He never bit after that.

While I know that this isn't your situation, the same applies, say OW and then isolate him for a few minutes. The isolation in conjunction with the bite will let him know that to do this means a complete lack of any attention what so ever.

This is the same thing as time out to me ... lack of attention.

 

[Princessperky]

Put him down/away from you, A loud harsh NO, then get him a teether.

I did that with both of mine and it wrks great. A time out fr a 9 month old is not more than a few seconds, so most people don't call it a time out.