very OT but help needed!

Barb, I have had that happen here at the daycare. A training I went to offered the suggestion of giving them something they can bite on safely. What I do is give the individual child a rubber chew toy like babies use (not a teething one with fluid) whenever I see them bite themselves. This has worked well for me. Sandy

It may just be a stage, she also may be teething and you may want to give her something cool or cold to gnaw on to soothe her. An alternative to biting is something that worked with my DS's when they were biting, especially DS1. My kids liked carrots with close supervision at that age. They make something now you can put a veggie in and the child can gnaw on it when they are teething. It looks really cool. That cool stuff usually come out right after your kids outgrow a stage. If you are really desperate, and I know you guys are going to think I am crazy for this, but you may want to try just a bit of tabasco sauce on the area where she bites. She seems a little young for this though so you may want to try the alternative first. It won't permanently hurt her but it isn't very appealing either. I used it on myself after DS2 was biting me (he thinks he is a dog sometimes) and I see it as a much better alternative than to "bite back" as some parents would say. He stopped the behavior that day. That is the only "food" I could think of that I could use. I think they make some medicines on the market that are used as a deterrent for thumb sucking. If the tabasco causes a lot of distress to the child, milk is better for drinking than water. Water makes it worse. I tried it on my beagle after my beagle was taking food I was cooking off the stove and devouring it. He ate a whole pound of hamburger and bent one of my nice frying pans. So I put some on hamburger and left it on the edge of my stove. He got it down, smelled it and left it there. That dog is smarter than he looks.

Jacqui

"Barb" wrote in message news:m90Ud.513780$8l.166426@pd7tw1no...

Hi.

My sister-in-law's first born used to do that. Alyssa was teething and used what was handy (sorry for the pun).

Francine (DSIL) used to kiss Alyssa's (DN) hands and said "don't bite your precious hands bite this instead" Then would cover Alyssa's hands with kisses and repeated I love your hands their so pretty.

My DSIL would also keep a pacifier (binky) nearby as well as a teething ring. I'd say in about a month my DN stopped biting her hand.

Hugs, Kate

I thought of something I've used on the dog and I've also tested it to make sure it wasn't too cruel ... it's called bitter apple. It's a spray. You might spray some on your hand to test make sure it doesn't give a rash. It's easy to find at the pet store. I figure if it's safe for a pet you can use it on a kid. It says on the bottle keep out of reach of children, but you wouldn't want a child to drink the contents, because it has alcohol in it. You'd just want it sprayed on in a fine mist where the alcohol would evaporate.

Just an idea, Lynne

A remedy in SA for people biting their finger nails, is to rub a type of cactus juice (which is very bitter, but actually good for you) on the finger nails.

Judy, SA

I know a man who's mom & grandma used tabasco sauce on his thumb (as a child of course! LOL) for thumb sucking. Turned out he loved the stuff! He still likes tabasco sauce.

This wouldn't be your DH would it???

Kenda (ducking and running, hoping to avoid Deb's shoe!)

LOL ummm....yep. :-) I was trying to keep him anonymous, but not anymore. ROFL

Barb...try a little Aloe Vera gel or juice. It is very soothing on skin problems, nettle rash, burns, etc. but it tastes absolutely vile, so may put her off biting herself. People who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome drink it in a juice form, available from the health food store, but it is the sort of thing that makes you shudder as it goes down....not nice tasting...yuck!!! The stuff people paint on their nails to inhibit biting usually contains Bitter Aloes, and my best guess is these two things may be related...not absolutely sure.

I wouldn't use anything likely to damage tender baby skin and remember she could rub her eyes after application. Basically, this sort of behaviour is better ignored as she is unlikely to do herself any physical damage. She just hasn't developed an appropriate coping strategy for when things don't go as she plans :o) Fussing over it unnecessarily may reinforce the negative behaviour and make her use it more as a means of getting her own way.

Thanks Marilyn. This is the stuff I was talking about previously, but could not get to the name!

Judy, SA