Biters Anonymous

I have to say that I get my patience from my mom, and I do have a lot more of it than most people. I am also human, and I do grind my teeth, clench my jaw, and growl on occasion, but as far as running around after two kids under 2 all day, every day, I’m pretty confident in saying I have more patience than most. Or at least I have more than Jordan! I like to compare my patience to a glass of fine wine. Monday is like the day you purchased said bottle. It’s full, still corked, and you almost don’t want to open it. By Wednesday, the bottle is half gone and so are your pants. By Friday at lunch, the bottle is bone dry and you’re digging through cabinets contemplating drinking cooking wine.\

    That being said, it is nap time on Friday. And we’ve had two ‘munches’ so far today, and a few more than I’d like to count this week. I am very glad it is Friday, and this weekend I need to really sit down and make actual lesson plans for next week. When we stay on a semi-strict schedule, I feel they do better and are less antsy. I started reading up on biting and how to stop it, and this basically sums up the situations I have observed when Tristan bites. He’s not doing it at all times because he is frustrated, but it is his way of saying “I can’t tell you how I feel right now, so I’m just gonna nibble.

•   They're frustrated. Biting, like hitting, is a way for some children to assert themselves when they're still too young to express feelings effectively through words. To your child, biting is a way to get back a favorite toy, tell you that he or she is unhappy, or let another child know that he or she wants to be left alone. –WebMd

So how do we teach young children to express themselves better? There are only so many times you can say the phrases “Use your words” or “We don’t bite” before you just sound like a broken record, especially if the child is still biting. I have been keeping teething rings rotating in the fridge and I use redirection on a daily (if not hourly, minutely) basis for both children. I know that biting is a combination of not being able to express himself and teething and having to share everything with Lily, but I am just not sure how to stop it effectively. It is also hard since Tristan is not my child. I am not sure what I would do if the shoe was on the other foot, but T doesn’t bite at home (because he’s alone with Mom and Dad) which means I have no previously set punishment to use. I have been trying to use the pack and play as a time out zone (mainly because he can’t leave that spot while I get ice and take care of the victim). But the P&P is right near the window so he just looks out and laughs. I thought about using the high chair but if he’s angry and put in there, he can twist and throw himself around and essentially get out. I could bring down the Bumbo chair and squeeze him into that, but I don’t want to squish him. I need to sit down first with Ash and RJ and see what they think the punishment/plan of action should be and go from there. Ash was a biter as a kid, so I am hoping this is just a phase until his teeth come in.