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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Pinching, biting and hair pulling, Oh My

So, Cameron has, in the past few weeks, developed some habits that I do not like. Ever since his top teeth came in he finds every opportunity to bite possible. He can get a finger in his mouth and chomped on faster than I can blink. However, he is not just a finger biter, he likes toes, hands, arms, legs, if he can somehow make it fit in his mouth he will bite it. The other two habits have taken root in his development of his pincer grip. He pinches, and hard too, all the time, but especially while he is nursing. Cameron will reach up and pinch my clavical, neck, under arm, stomach or if I am holding him he will pinch my wrists or where ever he can reach. The problem is that everytime I say "ouch" or "no biting/pinching/pulling hair" he starts crying-correction bawling. So, does anyone have any suggestions for how to get a 9 month old boy to stop biting, pinching & pulling hair?

1 comments:

Unknown said...

You knew I'd have some advice for you.
I think one thing you could try is that when he does those things, you give a verbal cue that it isn't ok (it helps if it's the same one) move him away from you a short distance (far enough so he can't reach you. Move him away again if he crawls toward you. Remember to move him away from you not you from him. He might think that chasing Mom is a pretty fun game after a while.) after about 30-45 seconds of "baby time out" (read: bawling). A note here: I don't really expect him to stay put. Just keep him a short distance from you for 30-45 seconds) Take him and comfort him. Just repeat if he does it again, and it probably will. I used this for biting and it was very affective. Believe it or not he's at an age where he can figure this out.
One other thing, you could try offering him a toy for each hand while he nurses. That might help with the pinching.
Good luck.