Definitely a biter

By Published On: June 29th, 2015

Almost two months ago, I wrote about our little biter. […]

JessicaAlmost two months ago, I wrote about our little biter. I mentioned how she was digging her little tooth into just about everything, and that she’d managed to get me, too (ouch). I looked up tips for dealing with biting babies, just to be safe, and I promptly forgot the one piece of advice (pushing into her mouth when she bites, instead of pulling away) that might actually be useful these days.
But really, that would only be useful if she was biting my finger. And I’m not putting my fingers anywhere near those sharp little teeth. Instead, she’s leaning into my neck and shoulder and trying to bite while I’m holding her. If she’s snuggled against me in the baby carrier, she’s pressing her face against my chest to try to bite. Super cute, right?
She’s only tried to bite me a few times, and she mostly gets my shirt, but I don’t like where this is going. She thinks it’s hilarious, and no matter how I react, she laughs in the same way. I tell her, “No,” which makes her laugh and lunge for me again. So I put her down, and then she laughs and scootches away (yes, still with the scootching, but she’s crazy fast now).
Thankfully, she still has only two teeth—centered on the bottom—although she just sprouted a sharp little tip from the upper left eyetooth. There are no top front teeth yet, which is going to make for a crooked little grin. Also, I’m pretty sure her new tooth is also called a canine because it’s so sharp and pointy and made for biting.
None of our other kids were biters in any serious sense. I listened to my friends’ horror stories about their little biters, and I heard the bizarre advice of “biting them back” come up again and again. But, come on. Who’s going to bite a baby and think that lesson will actually stick? I was dismissive about the whole topic, really, because I thought we had dodged that bullet completely.
But fate laughed at me, and now here we are.
So how do I nip this in the bud before it becomes her thing? I’m open to any advice beyond biting her back. I can see how that would work with an older child, one who can process cause and effect, but I don’t think she’s there yet. Any ideas beyond a firm “no” and putting her down?