9 Month Old Biting

Hi R.! Okay, been there with my son just about at the same age. Please, please don't bite him back. Like another woman said, two wrongs don't make it right. Plus, it may make him want to do it more thinking it is a game. He is most likely teething. Catch him in the act as soon as possible and a firm no bite and give him something to chew on. Remember this is a phase that most not all kids go through. Hang in there and it will stop you just need to be consistant when he does go to bite. And always warn anyone that will be around him that he is biting and to keep an eye out for the shark lol. Boys.. just wait till he's 2! Good luck and patience is a virtue.

Ouch! I've been there too. My son bit me so hard once while he was nursing that he broke the skin and I ended up with mastitis as a result. I feel your pain ;)

We tried several different tactics with my son (pushing him closer to my breast when he bit while nursing, pulling him off and making him wait a few minutes before nursing again, saying "ouch" in a loud voice, etc.). Nothing that we tried on purpose worked. Then one day he bit the exact same spot where he broke my skin a few days earlier. I screamed out in genuine shock and extreme pain. He never bit again. He seemed to get from my genuine gut reaction that what he had done was not ok,and he never did it again.

Good Luck!

Hi mother 31yrs ago my sister and I have babies three days apart mines was the older a son when they got about nine months her daughter started to bite. She will bite him and he would just cry he also would bruised when I got home his father would be so mad at me.I did not believed my sister did enough to stop her child from bitting, so one day she bit the blood out of my son and she would not let go so I bite her and she stop my sister was upset but she stop biting and yes I bite her hard!After that she never bite him again.

I broke my son by biting him back not to hard just enought that he fells how it hurts.

My son is almost 10 months old, he has 11-12 (#11 &12 are on thier way in). And this past week he has bitten me 3 times while nursing. It is a teething issue for my little guy. So before nursing him I put orajel on the sore spots, sometimes give him some Tylenol. Wait for about 10-15 mins and then try nursing him. If you get loud, it is a reaction it might become a game. Twice this week I had to just give him a bottle instead of nursing him. I hate to do that, but I was so sore because he does not just bite down, but he also pulls back draging his teeth. Today was much better he nused well with out biting.

Try to give him acceptable items to chew on. Teething biscuts are very messy, but the mini frozen bagels are not too bad. I also put his pacifiers in the freezer.

We also have vibrating teething toys that helps to massage the gums.

Good luck.

My daughter-in-law had this problem with my grandson. When he bit her while nursing, she simply pulled him very, very close so her breast so that it occluded his breathing and he let go. She then put him down and firmly said, "No biting!" She put him back to the breast a few seconds later. He quickly learned not to bite her breast while nursing; however, he continued to bite everywhere and everyone else! My daughter-in-law learned that this is a developmental thing with some children, and even though my son and daughter-in-law tried everything, from rewards for not biting to punishments and even biting him back, he did not really stop until he turned 3, which is when this behavior naturally extinquishes developmentally.
Good luck
K. R. IBCLC

He may be just teathing. Keep a wet clean washcloth in the freezer. When he starts biting give him the washcloth to bite. I don't think a 9 month old does things for spite so a punishment is probably not in order. If he continues, get him off the breast before you're seriously injured.

OUCH! First with the biting while nursing, I found removing them and telling them NO firmly (not raising your voice or being loud just a NO)and not allowing them to continue nursing right away worked for me on that issue. Never had that problem too much. As far as biters, I must say I lucked out. Out of all five of my kids none of them were big biters. Now we have had our share of bites though from other kids. I used to babysit a kid who was a year younger than my youngest at the time (who is 6 now) and he would take chunks out of him. I would firmly tell him no and separate them. He continued. I talked to his mom and explained this was not a behavior that was tolerated because my kids weren't doing it. Now this kid had done this to several kids (including my nephew once and he bit him back and she flipped out at my sister-in-law because her child got bit. My sister-in-law said well did you see what your son did to my son first? Of course not). Anyways, I told her as long as he is in my house if she didn't want to discipline him at home that was fine but in my house we bite back and we did and then he got a time out. Let me tell you it took a couple times for him to realize this was not gonna keep happening and he never did it my house again. He still continued after she moved onto another babysitter. I would just bite down enough to make him realize that it does indeed hurt and hopefully this will make him realize that he shouldn't be doing it. I know I was never a happy mom when another child did it to mine when I knew my child never had done it. Growing up with five kids, if they were going to bite they would have bit a sibling long before another child.

Good luck to you!

Oh I almost forgot to mention. My neice who is 3 is a biter and my sister-in-law has done everything from her biting her to whomever she bites (usually her 5 yr old brother)biting her back to time outs and put in bed for a nap. She has finally only found one way to stop her and while I am not a big fan of either approach it has worked. I do not support this but she first started with putting soap in her mouth and when that didn't work she puts a finger tip of hot sauce in her mouth. I have been there once and had to walk out of the room and house for that fact so angry that she did that. However, I am glad to say she has stopped doing it because she don't want that hot stuff in her mouth! She is the youngest of 4 kids.

One bite while nursing and i would take him off, say no and feed him later. I always found that a stern no worked pretty well. They're not going to learn the first time, so it may take a little while. They like to get a reaction so if you do a quick no and then ignore them they just hate it. If I was sitting with mine and they bite me, I would say no and put him down, maybe turn your back to him. It seemed to work for me, good luck

My son did this, my first son. I looked like someone threw a feral cat at me! LOL

Say "Ow!" and really act like it hurts. If you raise your voice or tell him NO! he is getting a reaction, which as you have seen, he might just enjoy. Just show him the natural consequence of biting, which is hurt. You can even pretend to cry a little. It will throw him off, and he might even try to comfort you.

Hi R. ~

While I do believe in disciplining children, I do not believe in biting the kids back. 2 wrongs don't make a right. I mean really..what is that teaching them? That it's okay to hurt someone back if they hurt you first? What happened to being the bigger person and just walking away? Of course the walking away doesn't really work in this situation but you get my drift!
My daughter is 10 months old now and she went throught the biting phase. I was just very firm with her and told her "No biting!" And I would just tap her mouth not hard but firm enough. I did that over and over and she hasn't bitten me since!
I'm sure he will stop biting....a lot of kids go through this!
Good luck :)