A Biting Child: Dentally Expressed Frustration

[ailbhe]

Linnea has been bitey lately. I think I am premenstrual. I bet the two are related.

The biting seems to be an expression of frustration - she's not given to stamping her feet, and it's easy to physically restrain her from throwing things or hitting people, even when I have Emer in the sling, so biting is what's left. Sometimes I can do something to lessen the frustration, and sometimes I can't. Being stuck on a crowded train at rush hour for two hours is boring, and there are only so many scribbles one can draw, and so many stories one can hear, while sitting still in one's seat (or, in this case, in the buggy, while I stood beside her with Emer in the sling).

I've been wondering whether carrying a chew toy would help. She's not teething. She doesn't seem to enjoy hurting me, and will in fact often try to bite just my clothes, not me at all. The other thing I need to do is make sure I don't ask more of her than a two-and-a-half-year-old can cope with, but that's not always easy to judge, given the day-by-day nature of being twoannahalf.

Comments

[arky72.livejournal.com]

interesting - Jonnie has also been bitey/pinchy and I am also pre-menstrual!

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember my sister going through a similar stage. Mostly she bit me, but I think apples helped. Toys are probably more portable, though.

[flybabydizzy.livejournal.com]

I think that maybe a toy to bite would be a great idea. It may well be that biting your clothes means that she is trying to divert her urge to bite you into biting something else, as she knows it is not allowed. Worth a try, anyway. Gareth got bitey when Jen was a few months old, too.

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

I wonder if anyone's studied whether or not the hormones cross into the breastmilk - or does everyone just assume that women will stop breastfeeding around the time their periods return, so it won't matter?