How To: Discipline biting toddlers

Toddlers generally begin to bite between 9 months and 1 year. First of all they don't intend any harm when they bite. They don't know that biting is painful. The best way to deal with it is to try and keep your body away from the baby so that he can't bite you. You should be able to anticipate when the baby is going to bite you. When breastfeeding the best way to get him to let go is to pull him into the breast so that his mouth and nose are covered and that will keep him from catching his breath so he will let go. No matter how careful you are, if you are holding your baby, at some point he is going to get you. If he does bite you put him down and say ouch, don't bite, that hurts, and walk away from your baby. This causes the baby to feel a little bit of a negative consequence for biting. Don't yell or sound too harsh. By just saying no and walking away is good enough. Once you've walked away come back and pick your baby up and say no biting to reinforce that biting is not good. Getting the baby to stop biting may take up to 200 episodes of saying no and walking away and then coming back to him to get him to stop.