Biting

My baby has got into the habit of biting, and it really annoys me because it is so sore. Those new teeth are SO sharp! My mom says that biting back is the only way to deal with this. It doesn’t really feel like a solution to me. What can I do?

Biting is just another game to your baby, and the annoyed reaction is just part of the fun. He has been experimenting with biting everything he can get his hands on, and so far the most fun by far is the human reaction. He is just learning cause and effect and experimenting with his world. This is not naughtiness, just exploration. Biting back is just not a solution, and will cause so much misery. There really isn’t much you can do other than take the game out of it. So when baby bites, just say in a calm voice NO and then carry on with a distracting activity. In this way you make it into a boring activity, not worth his time and energy.