Isaac remains the favorite playmate around here. Marcie asks about him constantly: "Ishaac?" or I-aac," depending on how clearly she's speaking. Gracie seems to call him Isey. So cute! And Marcie said "Day'id" yesterday for David.
As you can see, the "sandbox" is actually a kiddie pool that Gavin filled with sand from Home Depot. The kids LOVE it; the big kids who come play do too!
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| It was warm enough Will could go pant-less. He loves being naked. |
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| Seth wouldn't let his naked foot touch! |
We're having major issues with biting. I would be interested in some advice, especially if it pertains to twins or higher order multiples. Will and David especially see it as their most powerful weapon. David, for instance, tried to bite Will and Seth to keep them from coming through the gate when he wanted to be the only one on the other side playing with the empty diaper box. I don't know how much to discipline them because I don't know if it's serving any purpose at this young age when they'll just do whatever works regardless of the consequences. And I have to act so quickly because they forget what they've done within seconds! I have been trying a couple of things but to no avail yet. Maybe it's just going to take time. I know it's a stage, but it's a painful one for the victims. :( I appreciate prayer for wisdom!
Love and gratitude,
Carrie
I used to work at a daycare center as the Toddler teacher (16 months-33 months), with up to 14 kiddos (I had 1 assistant to help). There was one child who started biting, which led to another child biting, and then another. We tried many things, but the one thing that seemed to work best were baby teethers! It sounds crazy to let a toddler have a babby teether, but it worked! When one child bit another, we would first separate the two kids (usually by kneeling between them). Then we would say to the biter "No thank you. We do not bite our friends, that hurts them." Then we would turn to the other child, check for bite marks and comfort the child. (this was all done in just a few quick seconds) Then we would get an ice pack for the child who was bit and a teether (we kept them in the freezer) for the biter. When we would hand the teether to the child who bit we would say "We can not bit our friends because it hurts them, but you can bite this teether. Next time please use your words (even if they spoke very few words). - We then started doing "teether breaks" for all of our toddlers, usually at story time, a few times a day. Within a week all the biting stopped! We did the "teether breaks" for another week and then only gave them teethers when they bit someone (or when they were about to bite some one). Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good idea. Bless you for your work with so many Littles.
DeleteThat was one stage I really disliked getting into with the 3 boys. Our Pediatrician had me speak "sternly" (but not raise my voice or speak angry)...tell the toddler "We do not bite, biting hurts" and then ignore the "biter"....then focus all the attention on the one that got bit. Seemed it took a bit of time but the biter finally realized that they were NOT going to get any attention if they continued to bite. I agree, they are pretty young and "time out" wouldn't work yet! It's amazing how much you can accomplish when they are old enough to go into the time out chair! My little grandson Logan is a handful....his Mama has a "time out" chair in every room of the house! He is finally to the age now that he has gotten much much better. In fact, sometimes he will tell his Mom "I need to go to time out"! I think it's actually an activity that allows him to calm down and regroup and he knows it now! Hang in there...it's a phase and they will outgrow it but it has to be really tough with 5 ! I'll pray for you and all the ones "bitten"! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat insight there, thanks! :)
DeleteMy nephew was a preemie at 27 weeks. He was always in low percentile like Seth even though his parents tried everything to fatten him up. He is 8 months older then the Quints adjusted age.
ReplyDeleteWe had a little bit of biting with out triplets (I have triplets plus 2 olders...my kids are now 24, 19, 16, 16, & 16....the triplets will be 17 soon). We did the stern "no" or "no biting" along with comforting the "victim". One other thing that seemed to help some was to start teaching a few baby signs. One of the problems that seemed to be happening with my kiddos was that they were frustrated because they couldn't communicate. This phase WILL pass though...I promise. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat should be "with our triplets)... ;-)
Deletessdx5 you mean that now that they are almost 17, they don't bite each other anymore! Sorry, couldn't resist! Can't image having 3 - 17 year olds either! :)
DeleteMy "advice" is strictly for comic relief. Puppies go through the same phase and the worst (of course) was Jessie who is now 14 months. When he would bit me (no one consoled me though lol) I'd put my thumb in his mouth and push down while saying sternly NO BITE. Worked after a couple of times so now he doesn't bite me - just everything else. THANKS for taking the time to post pictures and share stories. I get so excited when I see an update - everyone in my office reads them as well and it's great for them to see the working hand of our Mighty, Loving, God in ACTION! Love you!
ReplyDeleteI hate to admit it, but we bit our kids back. My sister was a really bad biter and Mom tried a bunch of things with her that never worked. So an older mom in the church suggested that she bite her back - not hard, but just enough to get her attention and know how it feels to be on the receiving end. Oddly enough, it only took once and immediately worked. So I did the same things with my kids. I had to catch them in the act and then I immediately went to them, took their finger or arm (or whatever it was they bit) and told them we do no bite our friends because it hurts and I gently bit them. I promise - it didn't hurt - but it shocked them so much I immediately had their attention. They cried, and I hugged and loved on them while reminding them again that it's not nice and it hurts our friends and we don't ever want to hurt our friends. Sure enough, it only took once with both of them too. They never did it again! I'm sure some people will hate me for even suggesting it, but I know I'm not the only mom this has worked with.
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