Beware: Monkey Bites

Monkey has officially become a biter.

I had hoped that we would avoid behavioral problems like this one, but it seems that we will not.

Monkey bit me the other day and I told her no and popped her little butt. She cried, and then all was ok. Well, today she bit me again. She bit Gigi too, and left marks. So when she bit me, I bit her back. Because the only way I know to break a biter, is to bite them back. I didn't bite hard enough to leave marks, but just hard enough so that she would know I meant business. Ladies and Gentleman, that child looked at me like I was nuts and demanded that I put her down ("DOWN!"). She didn't even cry. Nothing.

Gigi and I talked about it some, and we honestly believe that her biting is a result of not being able to communicate with us in a way that we understand her. I have decided therefore, to commit myself to teaching us to sign. She already knows the sign for "all done" and uses it in the correct way (i.e - when she's finished eating she'll say "done" and then wipe her hands on each other to tell me she's all done). Today she learned to sign mommy (my absolute favorite one!), baby, and thank you. So - I'm hoping that by teaching her words that she's not able to speak yet, her frustration level will drop and then the biting will stop. Because, if not, I'm not sure what else to do. I can't keep biting her back if it doesn't phase her.