Teeth are Not for Biting

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!

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.

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.