How to Stop a Teething Baby From Biting

When a baby has sore teeth or gums, she will gnaw on just about anything to help relieve the pain ' even people. Biting doesn't have to be a fact of life, though; it's actually fairly easy to deal with.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Teething Gel
• Teething Ring
• Infant/toddler Toys

1. Treat the teething pain. Whether you use homeopathic teething tablets, natural teething gels, or pharmaceutical teething pain relievers, find something that will help ease your baby's discomfort. For severe teething pain, children's acetaminophen may help.

2. Take away things that shouldn't be ingested. Some toys have paint that may come off in your baby's mouth if she chews hard on them; other objects may break into pieces and become choking hazards. Put these objects away until your baby's teething episode has subsided.

3. Be consistent and firm without frightening your baby. If she bites you or someone else, say "Don't bite!" or "No biting!" firmly, and put her down gently for a minute if you are holding her. She should realize fairly quickly that biting is not OK.

4. Provide alternatives. Teething rings, teething toys or bagels you can freeze or refrigerate, and dampened, frozen washcloths are all appropriate objects for your baby to bite or chew on.

5. Keep these alternatives close at hand so that you can do a quick switch. When you put your baby down, hand her a teething toy immediately ' this will send the message that some things are OK to chew on, while others most definitely aren't.

Tips & Warnings

• Cool drinks can help ease teething pain ' a little bit of ice water in a sippy cup may be a good quick fix.
• If you are nursing, your baby may want to breast-feed more often for comfort while she is teething. Try to ease her discomfort before you nurse; this will lessen the possibility that you will get bitten.
• Try to restrain the natural impulse to yelp or shout when your baby bites you. She is not doing it because she wants to hurt you, but because it seems to lessen her own discomfort. She will catch on fast once you let her know what to do.
• Avoid giving your baby ice cubes to suck or chew on ' they can pose a choking hazard.
• Try to be consistent about the biting issue, even before your baby begins teething ' it can seem cute when small babies gnaw on your fingers, but it will hurt when the teeth start to come in.

on 11/22/2005 If you don't know how to do this, it hurts like you wouldn't believe. To break suction, use one finger and push down on your breast right near your baby's mouth, then pull away.