Responding early and calmly when your child bites can help stop the behavior. Biting is normal for toddlers who struggle with emotions and communication. Punishing or lecturing the child can encourage more biting. Instead, calmly state that biting is not okay and focus on safety. Later, discuss alternative ways to manage emotions and praise good behavior.
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๐ค Toddlers bite because they struggle with emotions and communication.
๐ฎ Lecturing or punishing the child can encourage more biting.
๐ React immediately and calmly when your child bites.
๐ State what happened and the emotion they may be feeling.
๐ Focus on safety and remove attention from the biting behavior.
๐ก Discuss alternative ways to manage emotions and role play with your child.
๐ Praise your child when they use alternative strategies and decrease biting.
Key Insights
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- ๐ค Biting is a normal behavior for toddlers due to their limited emotional management and communication skills.
- ๐ฎ Punishing or lecturing the child after biting can actually encourage more biting by providing attention and excitement.
- ๐ Reacting immediately and calmly helps the child understand that biting is not acceptable.
- ๐ Stating what happened and acknowledging their emotions builds a connection and helps the child learn to identify and manage their feelings.
- ๐ Focusing on safety and removing attention from the biting behavior sends a clear message that biting will not get the desired response.
- ๐ก Discussing alternative ways to manage emotions and role playing with the child helps them learn and practice new strategies.
- ๐ Praising the child for using alternative strategies reinforces the desired behavior and helps decrease biting incidents.
