How to Stop Your 16 Months Old Toddler From Biting?

While growing your toddler will go through certain growth development areas. These areas will create a phase of transition in their life that you will remember the most.

These phases or stages include the process of teething as well. Teething is a part of growing and it is a very normal process in which your toddler feels irritated and grumpy. And because of this, you will always remain on your toes. Only just not because of teething but mostly for the whole growth process and even after. On average in most children teething begins at the age of 6 months and by the age of three years, the development and growth of all the first teeth get completed.

Teething

The process of teething is very contrastive, your baby will go through different moods all along the process of the development of their first teeth. During the first teeth eruption, there might be problems like having loose stool as well. All these things are pretty normal.

During teething, a child faces several problems. These problems are listed below:

• Sensitive gums
• Painful gums
• Mouth ulceration
• Drooling
• Feeding difficulties
• Lack of sleep
• Crying

These are pretty normal problems that can be seen when a child is going through the process of teething so parents don’t need to worry about it. But if a parent is concerned about the pain that their child is going through they can contact their doctors because certain gels are used to reduce the swelling as well as their anesthetic effect will ease their pain. While they are going through teething they tend to put objects in their mouths, you always need to make sure that those objects or toys must be child friendly and safe near children. Otherwise unknowingly they might intake them and it might get stuck and create some life-threatening situation.

It is always known that the first eruption of the teething is very painful as compared to the rest. Sometimes, the large molar causes much trouble and discomfort due to their larger surface area because they can not simply cut out through the gums very easily.

Most children erupt their milk teeth till the age of 2 years and they have a complete set of 20 teeth in their mouth. The problem they face while going through teething is variable from child to child. Some of them go through very serious problems while others go through very few problems. Because of teething, excessive drooling with restlessness or decreased sleep is very prominent in some cases. Whereas refusal of food due to soreness and pain of the gum is also there. They often bring their hands towards their mouths this indicates the irritation which they have and this results in a mild rash on their skin.

If they rub the area of the cheek or ear it indicates that they are facing the eruption of molars.

Sometimes there are certain factors that people think happen because of teething but they do not happen because of teething. These are the symptoms of some other problems you need to consult your doctor if your child faces such problems. These problems sometimes include;

• High fever (over 101 degrees)
• Diarrhea
• Runny nose
• Cough
• Prolonged fussiness
• Body rash

It is advisable to consult a doctor if someone sees these problems while their child is going through teething. Going through teething while having fever, cough, diarrhea, or fussiness is sometimes treated as the symptoms or part of teething instead they are not. They are not the part of teething that can be happening because of some different illness or disorder(a viral infection or some other infection). Consult a doctor if your child is going through any of these problems while teething.

How can we help our toddler while he is going through the process of teething?

If you want to help your child during his teething process you can follow these steps;

• To ease their pain, it is advisable that with your clean finger you can apply pressure or rubs on their gums. You can also give them a clean washable cloth.
• Sometimes you find feeding them difficult because of teething, you can do one thing, you can change the medium of feeding. Use some different shapes of the nipple or use a cup it will reduce the discomfort.
• Cold objects help to reduce the effect of pain and inflammation. Many parents use refrigerated wet washcloths, cold pacifiers, spoons, frozen bagels, or bananas. You need to be cautious while giving cold objects to them. As prolonged contact might create problems for your child, always be present so he can not choke himself.
• You can also give your child anti-pain medications. But it is strongly advisable to contact a doctor first before going for any medications as these medications need to be precise. You can not simply give the medication of an adult to a young child, it will be harmful. So always consult with a doctor and then go for medications.
• You can also use homeopathic medicines. Apart from those non-homeopathic medicines, you can easily go for homeopathic ones, but again with the proper consultation of the doctor.
• Several home remedies can be used to ease your child’s teething pain. These can be known as using clove oil, licorice sticks, fennel, green onion, olive oil, ginger root, and using chamomile.

Why do children bite?

When we come to the question, ‘why do children bite?’. Several reasons are responsible for this behavior. These reasons can be described as;

• They bite because of pain – while they are teething they bite a lot because of the pain, biting helps them to reduce the pain of their swollen gums.

• Wants your attention – sometimes they bite simply because they are craving your attention. This happens in the case of an older children, so when they feel ignored or get unnoticed they can do this type of stuff.

• They are frustrated – some children are still unable to express their emotions. They tend to bite when they are frustrated or unable to express their emotions.

• They want to know what will happen if they bite – in the case of some children who just try to explore things, they sometimes use their mouth as well as they use their hands.

How can you make their biting stop?

You can take certain precautions if you want them to stop biting. These precautions and measures can be listed as:

• If your baby is teething, you need to do one thing, always make sure that you provide a cold washcloth or cold teething ring. So they won’t bite.
• Make sure that their needs get fulfilled, like if they are hungry make sure that you feed them or if they are thirsty so you can give them water or milk.
• Sometimes when a child is unable to express his or her feelings they bite. So when they grow they make this habit that they bite. You can make them express themselves so they can express their emotions instead of biting.
• Give your child enough of your time. They won’t feel that you do not care about them or you are ignoring them. You need to make sure that you can give them extra attention so they don’t feel left out.

Even after ensuring and taking these measures, there is no guarantee that biting will stop. Moreover, you need to let them know that the way they are conducting themselves is wrong and unacceptable(biting).

Some parents say that if their children bite, they bite them back. This sounds ridiculous as well absurd because we are more mature than them and they need guidance. This type of behavior will make them more prone to bite.

If your child continues to bite even after crossing the age of 2 years, then there is some serious issue that he is facing and needs medical attention at once.

If your child bites and it turns out to be an injury. You need to take these steps:

• Wash the area with soap or water
• If the wound is deep and bleeding out, then you need to call your child’s doctor.
• It is always advisable that if something happens in this way always go for antibiotics and a tetanus shot. They can prevent infection.

What is the prognosis for teething?

Most toddlers and children get their teething done till the age of 2 years. They will develop all 20 milk teeth and these milk teeth will fall out too and get replaced by permanent teeth. This whole process of teething in which eruption and development of milk teeth and after milk teeth, removal of them and replacement with the permanent one this whole comes under the heading of prognosis for teething.