Teeth Are Not for Biting (Board Book)

This is a book I bought to start reading to our son, who has some specialized needs. He had a dental procedure a few months ago that seems to have set off some of his sensory issues and changed the way things feel in his mouth in ways he's been struggling a little to adapt to. Totally not the fault of his dentist, it's one of those things that can be hard to avoid and difficult to always predict when you have a child with a sensory processing disorder. Anyways, we had a couple of books from this series that we used with our daughter when she was little, though not this one, so I was familiar enough with the series to have a general idea of what I was getting. I really like how this book opens by talking about how strong and sharp teeth are, mentions the approved of use, and then goes right into biting hurts. I like that the expression on the injured child's face is clear enough that my son can interpret her as both crying and clearly in distress. He has Autism as well, so sometimes it can be pretty hard for him to pick up on those types of cues unless they are very dramatic or emphasized. Because our son is 5, some of the sections of the book don't apply to him as much, because it spends a couple of pages talking about how many teeth a child will have when they grow in and that biting isn't an appropriate response to teething pain. I kind of adlibbed in this section and added how dental work can also cause discomfort that can make you want to bite. And you totally can't bite the dentist ;) I really like that this book gives strategies for replacing chewing, most of which are things he's willing to do -except rest... we don't really do resting in this house ;) I like that this book then goes on to explain how emotional things can cause a person to want to bite, because sometimes for him, he gets overloaded and tries to bite because the compression on those joints helps to calm him down, and then emphasizes that we don't bite for those reasons because it hurts others. I am a super big fan of the fact that this book drums in the "why" over and over again, because for our little man, he may understand what you want him to do, but unless you can get him to understand the "why," he's less likely to cooperate with you. This section is again followed by some strategies that he can again use, although for him it's via his speech computer when it comes to that whole "use your words" thing. Then the book talks about how it feels like if someone bites you and goes on to coach that we do not bite back even if we are bitten, we get help from a grown up, and then ends on a final reminder about teeth not being for biting and a final positive use (smiling). I feel like even though this book has a few areas that aren't as applicable to us at this time (teeth coming in), they may be as he gets old enough to loose teeth in the next couple of years. I like how thorough and repetitive this book is, and think it's a great social story resource for a kiddo who may be going through a biting phase. I don't anticipate that this alone will entirely solve our problem, it's part of a more comprehensive approach that involves the Wilbarger oral protocol, subbing in vibrating teethers when he leans in to try and bite me, and redirecting him frequently to appropriate chewers. I'm also trying to teach him how to chew gum, but that's going to be a longer process because currently, he doesn't want to touch that. But I think this will be a helpful support to us, he's already been looking at it as I read it to him, and I believe it could be a helpful support for your kiddo as well.

Between the ages of 15 months and 20 months, my daughter was a biter. She bit her little friends at school and us. I was very distraught over this and desperate for a way to help her to understand that biting hurts people and that it's not appropriate behavior. One day I noticed this book at her daycare (Montessori)--and thought it would be helpful for us to have the book at home to help promote the concept that biting people wasn't a good thing to do. Well it worked--the book is superb in delivering this message to a very young toddler! The book illustrations are wonderful and the words are simple and easily understandable for very small toddlers. I liked how the book examples completed the circle of understanding for toddlers--that yes, your teeth hurt and yes you may be frustrated by something--but there are other ways of expressing those feelings besides biting. I also liked that the book illustrates compassion for the people who are being bitten in the examples by emphasizing that biting hurts other people. This book was an excellent tool for us as parents. If she bit us--we would tell her that it hurt, say "teeth are not for biting" (the phrase from the book) and then read this book to her. It really helped her to get over biting--and quickly too!! She improved right away and had completely stopped biting about 2 months after we started this routine. I credit this book with helping her to stop biting people and to understand that "teeth are not for biting". We also have two other books in the series--"Hands are Not for Hitting" and "Feet are Not for Kicking". These books were also equally superb as parenting tools for us to help us quell undesired, but natural, toddler behavior.

Perfect for my nibbling granddaughter!

My son began biting at daycare beginning around 18-ish months of age. This was really distressing for me because our daycare has VERY strict rules around biting, and of course I didn't want him to hurt any other children there. He had never bitten me or his dad at home, so it was just an overwhelming time trying to navigate how to help him when this started out of the blue. I know that it is a totally normal part of development for toddlers at this age - but I was just nervous about the reprecussions of the daycare rules and what if I couldn't help him learn to break this behavior quickly. I hope this review will help other people who are struggling the same way!! We started by talking to our son the first day this happened. Daycare sent me a picture of the bite mark on the child he had bitten and I asked what the circumstances were surrounding the incident (was it provoked or was it totally unprovoked) and how they handled it - I wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page with what was going on and that things would be consistent as far as discipline and language etc between home and daycare. The first bite was provoked - but the bites that occurred in the days that followed were seemingly unprovoked and would happen whether he was upset or happy. My husband and I would talk to him at night after daycare about biting, using language such as "No Biting", "Biting hurts", "We Don't Bite Our Friends", etc. Short and to the point. We would talk to him again in the morning before we took him to daycare. After the first bite at daycare, they put him in his first ever timeout. I didn't think that would work great for him at that age because he didn't seem to understand what was going on, and you obviously cannot punish a child at that age when they get home from daycare because again, they would not understand. So this was definitely a learning experience for me as a mom. After a few days, I was becoming really anxious and worried - again, due to the strict no biting policy at daycare, and the fact that I was having a complicated pregnancy and was about to deliver a premature baby any day - so the fear of me having to leave to go into the hospital at any point in time and the possibility that we could get kicked out of daycare was A LOT. Thankfully, daycare was great and calmed my fears about him being removed because that would only happen as a last resort if he was biting all day, everyday, and nothing was working. We weren't there yet - he was only biting once per day (twice on one day). So, after the first week being unsuccessful - I really wanted to try and get this under control over the weekend, hoping he would return to daycare Monday and everything would be back to normal. Daycare warned me that a biting behavior can stick around for weeks and weeks and is one of the hardest behaviors to break. That Friday afternoon, I began searching for a good book. Our son loves books and I wanted something that was age appropriate. The book arrived the next day - and we immediately began reading it. He LOVED it!!! It quickly became his favorite book - and would bring it back and forth between me and my husband so we could take turns reading it over and over to him - he was obsessed with it and began memorizing it and the gestures that we would make as we read (like after the line that says to try a hug instead, we would hug, or at the end when it says "teeth are for smiling", we would all smile and say "cheeeese"). I even put the book in his daycare bag, and the daycare teacher for his age happily read that book during their book/reading time to everyone. When we brought him back on Monday, he had a BITE FREE day. Daycare was being very diligent as well at keeping a worker who he really loves and trusts close by - and she would try to intervene if she saw a bite coming or about to happen which also helped a lot. Unfortunately, that Tuesday, he bit someone again. That night, we read the book again and reitterated we don't bite, etc. Later, he was playing and getting pretty hyper with my husband - and he bit him. My husband is a little stricter on the discipline side - and he bit my son back (not hard, not out of anger, etc - and I know this is controversial) and it shocked our son! It wasn't until then that he actually understood or realized that biting really hurts and is scary. After that, he never bit at daycare again. So, the biting behavior for us lasted just over a week. I can't say biting your child back is the best thing to do - maybe as a last resort - but I can say that this book made a MASSIVE difference for us in combination with everything. It really taught him new language and was perfectly age appropriate!! This remained is all time favorite book for a while after that - in fact, he would bring it back and forth to us to read over and over and over again all-day-every-day that my husband ended up hiding the book so we could take a break hahaha! SO - if you are entering into the biting phase or are in the thick of it, feeling overwhelmed or not sure where to start or how to help - this is a GREAT place to start!!! I would recommend this book for parents, daycares/preschools etc, or anyone that is trying to help a child stop biting. The book details what biting and teeth are NOT for and gives a handful of other things for kids to try instead when they feel like biting during certain scenarios. The illistrations are simple, colorful, etc. I also really enjoyed in the back of the book, there are further resources and tips for combating biting!!! The book is also a boardbook, making it yet another great choice for young children. THANK YOU for this book. If/when my youngest starts any negative behaviors like biting, hitting, etc - I will come right back here and order the appropriate book for her, too.

I got this for my 19 months old daughter. She goes to daycare and had been having severe biting issues. She gets an incident almost everyday and at her worst she gets 3 incident a day. She does not bite us at home. She only does it at daycare when someone takes her toy away, she wants something that another child is playing with or another child sits closer to her and she doesn't want it. We dread picking her up because we feel like we're doing the walk of shame when we have to sign her incident report. I got this book because this seems to be the highest rating book that addresses biting and it seems to worked for a lot of people who posted a review. My daughter loves this book and I read it to her every night before bed and in the morning when she wakes up. This is one of her must read nightly book. Unfortunately, this did not work for her at all. She understood it hurt when she bites based on the photos in this book but she still bites even after a month of reading this to her. Eventually, daycare suggested to see a therapist for both occupational and speech therapy and we did. So we meet with the therapist and she said my daughter does not need any therapy at all. So the therapist went to my child's daycare to observe her and gave the teacher pointers on how to deal with my daughters biting issues. What worked for my daughter was diversion, watching her closely and offering her something else before she gets mad. A week after that her incident starts to lessen and now 2 months after we're completely incident free. I know some parts of my review are irrelevant to this book but I just want to share my experience hoping it'll help others too. As a mom of a serial biter, I don't want to relive that experience again. As for this book, this is still my daughter's favorite book and she won't go to bed without reading this. So yeah it's a great book.

Highly recommend this book and the "Best Behavior Series" that this book is a part of. Our pediatrician told us that developmentally, biting happens, but it's obviously something that will need to be addressed. So we actually for a time read this book every night and we’d all together enthusiastically say the phrase on each page “teeth are not for biting!” Our toddler started to memorize the book and loved to say the phrase on their own when we read together. We'd sometimes read the words of it in the car on the way to preschool. (Easy book to memorize). The book is really positive and explains the functions of teeth in a way that’s engaging. We also worked on trying to give phrases our toddler could use when upset - that our toddler could go to the teacher and say “I’m mad because -“ The Daniel tiger “I’m Feeling Mad” book helped because it went over how to handle anger when someone takes a toy or some other relatable thing for a toddler.

My daughter is in daycare and had repeatedly been bitten by another child. I know it can be somewhat normal at their age but my daughter was starting to make attempts at home after repeatedly seeing it/feeling it at daycare. We started reading this book and all of that stopped. She now is able to verbalize to the biting offender that biting hurts and you should bite food not friends. Great book and a great series!

I thought I still had a little bit of time before I needed to deal with biting issues, but it came up when my 15 month old daughter was bit at daycare and then she went and bit someone else a few days later. Sigh. I remember when we got the call that she was bit, I felt really badly but told myself that I would feel much worse had she been the biter. Yep. Did I jinx myself?! Anyway, cue this book. I wasn't expecting much from this, especially because the description markets it for pre-school and a lot of the reviewers talked about their children who were much older. But, I felt so utterly helpless in this situation. At least buying this book and trying to read it would be a way for me to do something. For starters, my daughter loves the book. She constantly picks it out of her bin for one of us to read. When we finish, she signs "more more more." My husband and I already have it memorized. I figured even if it did not help with the biting, at least it has value in entertainment. Now, I'm not sure if my daughter's biting was just a one-time thing or it was the entrance of this book, but we have only had that one incident. I'm hopeful that it we continue to keep this book in the rotation, the biting will be kept at bay. Now as for hitting? I think they make a book for that, too! Looks like we will be adding that one to our library as well.

文章は短いですが、大切な事が凄い伝わってくる絵本です。

It's a really effective book. It doesn't have some great story with a moral or something. It's just a simple book with a clear message for young toddlers that biting is not okay. Message is repeated enough times with simple illustrations. It teaches babies alternatives to biting as well. Adults may feel the book is not engaging enough but my baby of under 2 years of age actually stopped biting after repeated readings of this book. So definitely the book got something right!

This book is exactly as described and exceeded my expectations. It’s well-made, easy to use, and arrived quickly. I’ve been reading it regularly to my grandchildren and it’s made a noticeable difference. Great quality for the price—would definitely recommend!

Mon fils adore ce livre qui lui permet de développer son vocabulaire en anglais et ça l’a aussi sensibilisé sur le fait de ne pas mordre ses copains de la crèche.

Love this book, and so does our 18 month grandson. He's bit mummy a couple of times, so I thought I'd give a book a try. Good tone. Explains how one may want to bite, but why one shouldn't. Its simple message of, 'ouch, biting hurts' is repeated throughout. I think books are a great way to send a message because there can be no hint of a power play. Introduced this book last week at our house, and he wanted it read to him again and again! Zero biting afterwards! It obviously left an impression on his little mind!