My almost 11 month old has discovered the joys of chomping down on anything he can fit into his little mouth. Yay. My fingers, arm, shoulder, furniture, the poor dog, hubby, just to name a few favorites. Our living room is full of fun things he can safely gnaw on, but of course he goes for the few things he shouldn't. He understands what "no" means, he'll go for something he knows he can't have and stop as soon as I tell him no, then he'll reach for it slowly until I repeat it or come and get him. I tell him "no biting" in a firm voice and put him down if I'm holding him or get up and stop playing if I'm on the floor with him. Sometimes he cries when I tell him no, other times he grins! He doesn't stop though, and nothing seems to be discouraging him from continuing to bite. Is it too early to teach him not to bite? How do you teach a baby this age 'no'!?
Edit: He has 8 teeth, most of which he has gotten since Christmas, so we have been teething pretty much nonstop for several months. He has an assortment of teethers and toys at his disposal, they are just not as fun as me, apparently!
Maybe he is teething?
try giving him something, that he CAN chew on and bite down on.
But yet won't choke on.
He is young.
They do not have fully developed impulse control yet.
Scream. Loudly. Really loudly. Give him a good scare. Don't scream like you're mad, scream like you're in pain or scared or something. I only had to do that twice with my son and once with my daughter. They did cry afterwards, but they also learned. ^_^
My daughter just went through this phase. She was my 3rd and none of my other two ever went through this. She is 14 months now but when she was 11 months she would bite her sisters, me, my hubby and so forth. I would have them swat her hand and repeat no no. We had to continue with this over and over until she got the message. Finally she got the hint but you have to stick with it.
Hitting, biting whatever-you're right-he DOES understand "no". But with no consequence to go along with "no" he doesn't need to follow it. We swatted each of the kids maybe ONCE a piece from ages one through about 18 months for any act of aggression and after that a warning was all it took. The younger they are, they faster they learn. If you wait until it's a battle of wills at closer to two you'll need firmer discipline, so I would be concise, calm and firm now to prevent all that. Our kids that got swatted for hitting never bit after that either and our ones that bit first never hit after that etc. Kids are VERY bright and can learn not to do those things pretty instantly without the endless shadowing and prevention stuff. I've always been able to trust my toddlers around others in any setting. Also, once you are effective at teaching "no" for something serious (like hurting others!), you'll see him mind the warning much more often in general which is a big perk. Then it will be second nature before two years old. He's way too young to think in paradox and irony as in, "hey if you're swatting me, it's counter-intuitive to me hurting someone else, I'm confused" as some claim. But he can instantly understand an uncomfortable result to his own choice at this age. Saves a world of headache later. Keep it in mind if he persists, you do NOT want him to get in the habit of smiling and continuing wrong actions when you say no. Good work starting young enough!
I think he is old enough to understand "no". When he does it if you are holding him...put him down right away and say no. You could even try putting your finger over his lips(gently) when you say no. There is this thing...can't think of the name....it is a mesh teether...you can put food in it and they can chew on it..
