Brooke's newest thing is biting people or objects when she gets mad. For example, if I tell her she can't have something, she'll open up her mouth and try to get my finger, knee, arm, or any other body part of mine in her mouth. If she's not directly on my lap or right next to me and I tell her no, she'll bite whatever she is near to. The couch has been a major victim lately.
The other day in the church nursery she was looking at herself in the mirror and she was getting frustrated for some reason, so there's my daughter with her mouth wide open trying to bite her reflection in the mirror. It was actually really funny to watch! Lol
Tonight I tried to nurse her before I put her down for bed. She wanted to be playing, not eating, so I made her mad by interrupting her. Instead of simply refusing to eat, she clamped down on my nipple as hard and she possibly could and refused to let go until I flicked her cheeks. It was awful!
What made me really mad was when she bit Nathan the other day. They were having one of their little "fights" over who got to play with the book and Nathan won. She went up to his arm and bit it so hard that she left BITE MARKS:-( I felt so extremely bad. That is just not acceptable. I felt even more awful when he started to cry. He got this super offended look on his face too.
I'm petrified that Brooke is going to bite another baby in the church nursery. My sister understands when Brooke bites Nathan, even though I'm sure it doesn't make her happy. Any other random person might be highly annoyed with us. What if we have a visitor at the church and Brooke bites their kid?? That would not be a very nice welcome, now would it?
Every time that Brooke bites I pick her up, look her directly in the eyes and say in a stern voice, "NO biting, Brooke." I then smack her little hand. I honestly don't know what else to do. I'm getting really frustrated because I know that this is an issue that needs to be nipped in the bud. I think that attributing this biting to teething or "she doesn't know better" or any other excuse, is just wrong. She is willfully biting people in order to get her way or to show that she's mad. I happen to believe that babies are teachable and that if I'm persistent with disciplining her in this area then she'll catch on.
Does anyone have any advice for me? I would like this biting to end.. And soon!
2 comments:
I know this sounds harsh, and you don't want to hurt her obviously, but when my sister was little and going through a biting phase and bit my mom, my mom bit her back! Haha, needless to say, that ended my sister's biting phase!
Yikes, that sounds like no fun. Marissa has recently started banging her head on whatever (or whoever) is nearby when she gets mad about something. It mostly just hurts her head, so I'm hoping she'll learn to stop on her own. Lol. But I've always been scared that I'd have biting toddlers. I remember at every daycare I ever worked at, that was the biggest problem! It seems weird that it would be so common, but I guess that's all they know how to fight with! We tried everything with those kids, like sit them away from everyone, or don't let them play with their favorite thing. We used to have to sit on one boy's hands to keep him still so he wouldn't bite everybody! If it was Marissa, I'd probably slap her hand too, so I don't know what else to tell ya, other than keep it up with the discipline, she can't possibly do it forever :-P
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