My 2 year old Niece bites. Advice please!?

Question

My 2 year old Niece has been biting other children including small babies. At first it looks like she is going to kiss them but then it turns into a bite and quite hard sometimes. My sister does tell her that its naughty and puts her in her buggy for a few minutes but then lets her out to say sorry. I personally dont think she is being firm enough with her as she is at the age where she knows right from wrong. I have a 6 month old and im dreading if she goes to bite her. Any tips/advice would be appreciated, thanks x

Answer 1

put soap in her mouth... It's kind of like cursing. She's not using her mouth properly

Answer 2

I would personally give her a good spanking! If she was mine that is..... I had a niece that bit my sister in law, and it drew blood (lovely!). If she bit my baby I would be scared to think what I would do... probably grab and shake her slightly and look her right in the face and say "DON'T YOU DO THAT!!" extremely sternly.

I know a lot of people don't agree with spanking, but I would really hate to think of what would happen if my child was ever bitten. That c**p makes me soooooooooo angry! Good luck, I can see you're in a really bad prediciment!!

Answer 3

my sister's daughter bit when she was the same age (she's 15 now!). she tried everything!! the only thing she found that eventually worked was taking her daughter away from where ever she was straight away... so if she was at a toddler group and she bit, she would have to go home immediately. if she was at a friends house the same thing. it didn't matter if she had only been at these places for 2 minutes or an hour WHENEVER she bit she had to go home. (her friends were very understanding as it does seem a bit rude if you're invited to lunch and you have to go home after 2 mins! lol).

her little girl eventually got the message that she was missing out on all the fun and the biting stopped!

hope this helps... good luck!

Answer 4

Eventually one of the other kids will turn round and bite her back. Keep a close eye on her when she's around your littlun, and perhaps have a word with your sis about stepping up the disapproval when she does it. Perhaps rather than just making her sit in the buggy, putting her in it and taking her home straight away might make more impression. One little lad at nursery with my two spent most of his time for months on the "thinking step" for biting - and then the bitees got older and more ruthless and he stopped doing it.

Answer 5

my 3year old nephew used to bite, so when he bit me the first time i bit him back, you have to do it immediately so he knows why you did it,  you have to bite her hard enough for her to know you bit her but not hard enough to leave a mark. it took him a few more bites until he stopped works every time.

Answer 6

you can stick your finger inher mouth and curl your finger down and hold her chin with your thum and finger and tell her to stop. don't worry it won't hurt, but6 she wont like it.

Answer 7

Kesho is absolutely right!

My daughter went through this stage, and so my wife bit her, just hard enough to let her know that it hurts!

She cried for a minute or two, and we said "Yes it hurts and it's a nasty thing to do, and every time you bite someone, we will bite you"!

She never bit any child after that!

Answer 8

Bite her back - not too hard, but hard enough that she knows that it hurts.  Don't wait until later.  As soon as she has bitten, bite her and reprimand her.

Answer 9

I can't believe all these people are telling you to bite her back!

Firstly, how does mimicking her behaviour teach her right and wrong? It will only teach her that you (or her mother) are ALSO capable of doing the wrong thing.

Even IF it does make her stop - what is the life lesson in this?

Anyway, I personally think that what your sister is doing is the right way to handle it - although I think she should step it up a notch and completely remove her from the situation permanently when she does it. Take her home and tell her that it is mean to bite people and if she does it then she wont get to play.

She really will stop on her own in a short period of time.

Answer 10

The majority of the people I know did the same to them. If you do it just hard enough, they will get that it's not a good thing to do.

Answer 11

soap her bite her whatever works(for the record i dont really believe in spanking ) that behaviour  is unacceptable ! i see brats like that @ grocery stores and playgrounds and thank my lucky stars they arent mine.

Answer 12

well firstly do not bite her back because that is teaching her nothing.i would remove her from the room.does mum have a naughty step?if so make her sit there for 5 minutes eventually she will get the message that people do not want her around them is she bites.

Answer 13

Biting and pinching are certainly a frustrating issues, and little ones often do either one simply because this is how they express their emotions. A funny way to do so, I know, but that's why they are often referred to as "love bites". Of course, if you aren't already doing so, you need to look her firmly in the eyes and say "No! No!". Then, have her sit for a few minutes. I think the biggest part of breaking this bad habit is trying to find out what triggers it. If your child is doing it out of frustration, try to head off the circumstances by distracting her or finding a teething toy, etc. If she is doing it out of love, as soon as you sense she is about to bite or pinch, hug or kiss her and tell her, "This is how you show love." Heading off the situation before it occurs is the best way to change a bad habit.

Toddlers bite for various reasons. Once you figure out why your toddler is biting, you may be able to stop this behavior.Obviously, this isn't an uncommon occurrence. Toddlers bite, and they bite for various reasons. The key to stopping this bad, and painful, habit is to figure out why your child is biting, and what you can do about it.

Toddlers' emotions run from one end of the spectrum to the other. They are instantly happy, sad, angry, playful, sleepy, whiney, exhilarated, etc. So, when a toddler feels particularly fond of another child, he may not know exactly how to express his emotion.Another major reason for toddler biting stems from frustration. Toddlers are typically frustrated about several things throughout the day. They don't always know how to communicate their frustration appropriately. They may cry, kick their legs, shake their heads, and even bite an unsuspecting friend, simply because they are frustrated.Because toddlers may not be very adept at communicating their wants and needs, they bite as a form of communication. They learn that the can get some type of response or attention by resorting to this behavior, even if it is negative attention.

Many parents of biting toddlers punish their children by biting them back. Does this work? Absolutely not! Instead, it only reemphasizes the behavior that the child is already practicing. Remember, toddlers are little sponges, soaking up words and actions around them. This is how they learn. Parents need to teach by example. If you bite your child back, what are you teaching her?

One of the best ways to deal with a biting toddler is to be firm and consistent in your response. Finally, it will take lots of love and patience on your part to help your child overcome this annoying habit. You may find that if you spend a little extra time holding your child, after her punishment, she may respond to this extra time with you. Eventually, your child will grow out of this frustrating behavior problem.

Answer 14

Hi my daughter is just over 2 years old now and she also done this biting which looked like she was going to give a kiss and then bit, again it would be babies in prams at soft play or her brothers cousins at home.

It is very embarrassing when she done it to complete strangers when you are out but try to stay calm and not get flustered about other peoples reactions first. To deal with my daughter I straight away would hook my first finger over her bottom teeth and say very firmly, but not shouting, do not bite the baby/brother etc is sad. I would then give her no more attention but focus my apologies and cuddles on the other child so that my daughter saw she got no reaction or time from me over biting.

Many children are naughty as they get a reaction and attention (all be it bad attention but it is still attention in a 2year olds mind) and when my daughter realised she did not get it and she hated my finger over her teeth she stopped within 6 days. This may seem long but I have had a friends child and children in the nursery where I work who have had the naughty step or no toy/treat approach and are still biting months later.

At that age your niece, as my daughter does, knows it is wrong and needs an immediate shock to the biting which she remembers will happen and it puts her off.  Putting her in the buggy is not a punishment to your niece as she is normally here and so she is making no connection to having bit and hurt someone.

You can also try role play with a favourite doll or soft toy if your niece has one, we also done this and one day my daughters doll was good and got cuddles and toys and fun and then the next day we pretended the oll was biting and we put our finger at her mouth and reiterated what we were doing with my daughter and it was my daughter who told the dolly no it makes brother sad!! Proving she knew what she was doing.

I hope this helps the main thing is to try and not get stressed so you can deal with it accordingly, but please do not ever bite her back as this is only showing that someone bigger bites her so why should she not bite someone smaller than her??

Good Luck x

Answer 15

I think every toddler goes through the biting phase at one point in their toddlerhood. I think toddlers feel the need to bite when theyre upset about something, or when they have been overstimulated by there surroundings or when there has been a certain sudden change in there lives, such as a new baby in the home. The best thing to do is be calm when a biting episode has just occured. First, try to make sure both children involved are safe and if hurt, comfort the hurt child. Then, without upseting the child who actually bit, talk to the child in a calm yet firm voice and let the child know that what he has done is wrong and that he is not to bite. Dont worry. Its a normal thing for toddlers to go through. Biting is kinda a way for them to let out their frustration of whatever is bothing them because they cant communicate there feelings clearly yet. Just try to keep the children content as possible, so they wont feel the need to bite. Good luck, and i would try to also let your niece know that your 6 month baby is still little and she should not hurt or hit your baby and try to keep your baby away from her if you are truly concerned your niece may hury her. Good luck!

Answer 16

Watch 'Super Nanny' or 'Nanny 911'. They teach discipline techniques for this sort of thing and it works every time. Super Nanny is like the dog whisperer but for kids. My advice would be to give a warning first then put them in the naughty corner for 2 minutes (one minute added for the age of each child. If the child is 5, then she spends 5 min. in the naughty corner) if they do it again. If she won't stay in the naughty corner you have to pick her up and put her back and explain to her why she is in the naughty corner and how long she has to sit there. When the time is up make her apologize. It's all about being consistent in you discipline.

Answer 17

Nah put one of those sausage look-a-like pain relief things or a ball gag!

lol

James:)