I have biting on my mind for many reasons, not the least of which is that I proved to be completely incapable of making a bite impression at the dentist's office today. But before I plead incompetence, I would like to say that it is really hard to bite down normally when half your mouth is numb and you have a cheek-full of goop. And of course I always have a problem when any sort of medical professional tells me to do something "normally". It kicks my brain into panic-mode, and I can't seem to remember what normal is. Especially when there are sharp tools involved.
But let's not talk about the dentist anymore. Or ever again for that matter. Let's talk about the champion biter in our house: Michael seems to be in constant need of a good-sized chomp. Sometimes he lunges for me out of nowhere. I usually try to hold his forehead back, which causes him to struggle and flail his arms about in a desperate attempt to grab hold of my flesh. It would be almost comical to watch if I wasn't so sick of it happening.
He just seems to have a real need to bite things. I wish we hadn't eliminated the pacifier so early. Ironically, I gave up on it because he would just bite it instead of sucking, and I got tired of holding it in his mouth all the time. Now I know he is just part vampire, and could have benefited from all that chewing.
We think the biting is actually why he arrived a few days early. He must have bitten his way through the amniotic sac. (Of course his actions must have caused him immediate alarm at the consequences, because he refused to come out on his own, and all the pitocin in the world couldn't convince him to make an appearance - on the doctor's timeline anyway).
On the advice of some friends, and the supposed advice of some friends' pediatricians, I finally bit him back today. Not hard enough to leave a lasting mark or anything, but hard enough to shock him. It did seem to snap him out of it. For an hour anyway, until he tried to bite me again.
Are rawhide bones fit for human use?
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3 comments:
Oh Bonnie! I've said it before but I feel your pain. It was a very traumatic time for me when Adam had this habit. I never recovered from the first time he bit down on a little friend and drew blood. Mainly because I was bawled out this first time and was afraid it would happen again every time he went for the jugular.
I never found the guts to bite him back although I received similar advice. Way to go! :) Maybe I shouldn’t be congratulating you on the biting of your son. Haha….but I know how frustrating it can be. Sadly I have no advice. I do have words of hope…Adam grew out of it! I’ll cross my fingers Michael will too sooner rather than later for your sake.
There are nylon chew bones at PetSmart!
I'll be curious to find out if that tactic helped! I have always wanted to know! Biting is one issue we haven't had to deal with on a large scale (yet).
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