It Feels Good On the Teeth

 Little Pumpkin chooses to bite. She bites out of frustration, she bites when she doesn't get her way, and I think she bites for fun. For example, just the other day I was washing my hands in the bathroom, to which she had accompanied me per her usual tradition. She was just walking around chattering about something, and then she stopped behind me. Then she bit me. In the butt. Through my jeans. And it hurt pretty good, so it was a pretty good bite! I have no idea why she bit me- she was not being naughty, or in a grumpy mood -but she most definitely bit me in the butt!

My Little Pumpkin

This biting habit started when she was around 6 months old, when she started crawling and pulling up on things. The very first time it happened was when she was determined to dismantle, and unplug, the nightlight in the hallway. I told her no, that she was not to touch the outlet (or anything plugged into an outlet for that matter), and was trying to re-direct her to a different activity. She did not agree with the course I laid out for her and promptly turned her head and bit my hand. Granted, she only had about 4 teeth at that point, but the principle of the matter was a bit of a shock. (She had also used a few sound effects along with the bite to make sure she got her point across!) Over the last year, the occasions that she resorts to trying to bite have lessened a bit, but it still happens. And not only does she try to bite Jason and I, she sometimes bites herself when she gets really frustrated.

This biting thing is something we have been working on since it started, but apparently we have not gotten it completely worked out. Especially with this latest random bite that I painfully received on my backside. It was after that bite that I remembered something my cousin, Amy, said: It feels good on the teeth.

At the beginning of this year, Little Pumpkin and I had the opportunity to visit my Aunt Betsy, Uncle Bruce, cousin Amy, and Aunt Verna. Somehow the topic of Pumpkin's biting came into the conversation, and I believe Uncle Bruce mentioned that he remembered Amy and Scott doing some biting when they were kids. Except I think their biting was on each other, not their parents. I believe Aunt Verna or Aunt Betsy asked what was the purpose of biting someone, and Amy said something like, "It felt good on your teeth." I don't think any of the rest of us quite grasped that concept, but that's apparently what Amy remembered from her childhood biting days!

 

Aunt Verna, Aunt Betsy, Little Pumpkin, Myself, and Amy

After I got bitten this last time for no apparent reason, I have begun to wonder if there is a bit of truth to, "It feels good on the teeth." Maybe some of Pumpkin's biting comes from her teeth hurting. For the past few weeks, she seems to always be chewing on at least one finger way at the back of her molars. And sometimes she has almost her entire fist in her mouth. I have no doubt that some of her finger chewing is due to teething, but maybe the rest of her teeth and mouth need something to chew on to relieve pain or pressure. I really don't know. What I do know is that we have not quite mastered the discipline of not biting. Have no fear, however, of getting chewed on by Little Pumpkin if we ever cross paths! We hope to instill in her the knowledge that it is wrong to bite people, even if it feels good on the teeth!

In that regard, what are your personal experiences with biting children? Did you do it as a kid because it felt good on the teeth? Or, have you successfully worked through a biting issue with a child?