So now that I know why my toddler boy is biting, what do I do about it? I returned to the Internet to do some more research and here’s what I read on several sites.

First, tell your child that biting is bad behavior and is not acceptable. Remind your children who are biters that we don’t bite other people because biting hurts. If your child has been biting children in a playgroup or daycare setting you can remind your child of this on your drive there.

If you catch the child biting someone else, immediately remove them from the situation and tell them in a firm and matter of fact manner (that indicates you mean business) “no biting – biting hurts” or something like that. If you use time outs for disciplining your child, give them a time out after a biting incident. It’s important to be consistent when dealing with a biting child.

Don’t laugh or give too much attention to the biting incident. Giving attention to the biting will only reinforce that behavior and the child might continue to bite just to get your attention.

Give lots of attention to the child who was on the receiving end of the bite. Give them a big hug and make a big deal out of checking on them to make sure they are ok.

Finally, no matter what, NEVER bite your child back. Again, this only reinforces the biting behavior.

If you can stop the biting before it happens that is even better. If you know your child bites when he is tired (like mine), when you see other signs of him getting tired at the playground or in a playgroup you can remove him from the situation and take him home. If you think your child might be biting because he is teething, give him a teething toy he can substitute for biting his brother.

Do I really think Jaws is going to stop biting? Probably not until he outgrows it. But at least now I know to look for the signs that biting might be imminent and I will try to intervene before it happens.