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Moms of biters - HELP please
Gretta is a lot of things, but a biter she has never ever been. Ingrid on the other hand is ALWAYS biting, whether she is teething or not, although it is worse when teething. She does it for fun, when she is mad, etc. I need help getting her to stop, in 2 situations.
1. My biggest issue right now - neither of my girls have even been the type of baby where you can put them to bed drowsy. They will look at you like you're crazy and then scream their heads off. Ferber doesnt' recommend progessive waiting for naps b/c it is often ineffective, and I don't like it anyway at that time. So, I have always rocked them to sleep. Lately when I leave the room after rocking Ingrid, I look like I've been mauled by a wild cat. When she is mad she bites and scratches, when she is happy she just bites like CRAZY. I absolutely cannot seem to get her to stop. I pull her away, say no. I put her in her crib for a break and say no. I lightly pinch her cheeks and say no. She just laughs. The one time I yelled loudly she started crying and I felt horrible. I am at a lost b/c I don't want her to scream herself to sleep (if she even will) and I cannot stand being bite so hard so much. My neck looks ridiculous, people have actually asked me about it. I think they think adam is abusive or we get wild in bed, haha!
2. Ingrid bites gretta when G does something to upset her. She is too little to understand time outs I think, but how can we get this to stop. I'm afraid she will be the naughty kid on the playground! I dont' understand how 1 kid can be so oral when the other kid has never bite anyone ever - same parents, same social situation every day. it's weird, and frustrating.
Re: Moms of biters - HELP please
Thanks for the support girls, good to know we aren't alone (although I feel bad for you all!)
I might try the laying in crib thing, it couldn't hurt. My only problem is that Ingrid just doesn't seem to get tired. She gets fussy, so I know she is tired, but she fights pretty darn hard. I left her today in the crib and she cried a little and then just sat there playing w/ her bear. I don't think she would have ever fallen asleep.
I am trying to remember that this is just a (very painful) phase. I am really hoping she'll one day be like her sister and put herself down for naps!
C never had a huge problem with biting but there were a few times where he would run up to us and "hug" us then we would end up with a sneaky bite. He would think it was hilarious. After pulling him away and telling him no sternly a few times, we resorted to flicking his mouth when he bit. I know this isn't the answer for everyone so please think of it only as a suggestion. We flicked his lips immediately after the bite and say "No biting". The flick is hard enough to surprise him and he cried for 30 seconds or so afterward but it doesn't do any real harm. I think we only had to flick him on 2 occassions and he stopped trying to bite people.
I think if you are going to do something phyiscal like pinching the cheeks, flicking the mouth or biting back, you have to do it hard enough for them to really regret the "punishment" instead of just laughing about it. It sucks while they are crying but for C it worked really well and he never cried very long. Afterward we do a cuddle lesson explaining it hurts and he can't bite people so it makes me feel better about it.