Ava is OUT of control! She is spitting constantly, licking strange things, biting things (us), and it is getting to the point where I can no longer stop the behavior calmly all day long.

Last night, I was folding clothes for the garage sale, and Ava was licking the garbage bag that they had been in in the garage. :sign11: Then, she ran around the house spitting on anything and everything...me, herself, the dogs, toys. I cannot take this, and I don't know how to stop this.

Our FT said it was lack of oral stim. BUT, she gets plenty of oral stim...she always has paci access, always has a beverage near, always has a snack if she wants to munch...not like there's a a lack of stim. We see OT today at 12:30, but she thinks it's sensory AND behavioral.:hairpull:

Any advice on nipping this in the bud? HELP me!:sad5:

I have no adivce but wanted to jump in on this one as Aubrey, too, has been biting alot lately. I've been meaning to post about it, but keep forgetting. I'll be curious as to what others suggest.

Dh just took her to OT for me, as I've got some financial aid/medicaid/disability ins. paperwork to do...it looks like my desk has exploded. I gave him explicit instructions to address it, even though we've been talking about it for awhile...it's just gotten WAY out of control. Licking the bag that's been sitting in our 150 degree garage for over 8 mos was the last straw, as was spitting juice all over my comforter.:bleep:

well... hannah did and still occasionally bites.. we havent started spitting yet, but maybe that will come next lol.. i always tell her NO NO and set her but on the floor and walk away. i think they like that reaction where you yell OUCH!!! ,, cuz i think they know they can get a reaction out of you they keep doing it.. some of hannahs bad stuff, i have learned to ignore it.. like yelling.. she started this.. AHHHHHH and she would look at me for a reaction.. so i startd not even paying her any attention and she stopped.. but when they do it you wanna just :hairpull: . have you tried sitting her in a chair or something for like a minute or two? i used to do that with my niece and that seems to work,, because that minute seems like an eternity to them. sorry no great advice....:hug:

The only thing I can think of is time out.

I don't know, sorry I'm not helpful. Allie is throwing everything (this kid has an arm). At dinner, she throws everything on her tray, it lands on my plate, knocks over her glass of milk, etc. She picks up her sippy and chucks it across the room, then looks at me and laughs.

We have started making her sit and do a timeout for 1 minute (which will increase to 2 minutes next week) for throwing. We just started this, but it is the only thing I can think of.

Oh yeah...we've got a throwing issue, as well. Especially anything in the bathtub that will get water EVERYWHERE.:bleep:

I'm trying the ignore w/ biting and spitting, to no avail. The throwing, I'm trying to be stern, I've tried timeouts, not working.

LOL, since everyone seems to think I look JUST like Nanny Jo, you'd think I'd be able to handle this no prob, right? :evil4:

OT either didn't have any great advice today, or dh didn't give a great report...take your pick on that one, kwim? I'm going on Thursday, so we'll see what she says.

Any help, anyone???

Throwing.... ahh yes.. we have that problem too.. forgot about that one.. she throws everything.. guess i've gotten used to it. from sippy cups, food, hair bows, toys, i havent been successful at stopping that one yet.. our carpet that we "had" we got laminent now. but i bet it had gallons of elecare where she would throw her toy and knock her milk over while i was tubing her..soooo frustrating!! its like they have some kind of aim lol

I just picked up the 1-2-3 Magic book. I know Kim (kimber) uses that method too.

I have the 1-2-3 Magic book but the book recommends that the child have a mental age of two for it really to be successful. The idea is when they are doing something wrong you say that's one, if they do it again it is two and if they do it again it is three and you give a time out or consequence. In theory you supposed to be teaching the child to modify his own behavior but I am not sure a toddler is able to do this. In reality it really is training the parents b/c it encourages the parent not to talk too much or be too emotional when disciplining b/c these things lead to negotiating with the child. (I tell Tressa all the time "I don't negotiate with terrorists!")

The child development specialists I work with always emphasize being consistent. So if the child bites and you decide that you are going to use time out, you have to give the time out every time the child bites. You can say "Biting hurts and I don't want to be with you when you hurt me." and take them to the time out spot. Set a timer for the time they have to be there (usually it is rec. one minute for each year of life). If they get up from the spot, calmly without saying anything take them back to the spot even if you have to do it 15 times. Ignore cries, screams or other attention getting behavior until the timer goes off. Then tell them they can come out of time out but if they bite again they will go back. The child development specialist also has the child do something to take responsibility for their actions- for example if the child bites a sibling the child has to bring the sibling an ice pack for the bite.

Also remember really young kids often bite b/c they can't express themselves and biting might be their way to express a frustration or just get attention. If you catch them doing something appropriate instead of biting to express be sure to praise them as they most likely will continue to use the appropriate behavior.

Good luck! Neither of my girls were biters but my goddaughter/cousin was -she did it b/c her victim (a boy at her day care) was an easy target and they would also put her up in a highchair with a toy to keep her occupied. So of course whenever she was bored she would bite this boy! Of course now they are both seniors in HS and the boy is a football player. My cousin gets great joy reminding him how she harassed him as a toddler!

Forgot to mention with the 1-2-3 Magic book, you may decide that some behaviors are considered an automatic 3. Biting probably would be one of the ones you decide to make an automatic 3.

Thanks, Pam! You're advice is always good!

LOL about not negotiating w/ terrorists...I often refer to Miss Ava as "Tina the Tiny Terrorista"!

1-2-3 Magic SOUNDS great in theory, but I don't think she's got the capacity to grasp it yet, kwim?

Not sure about the spitting and biting. But is there a particular texture she likes to lick? Maybe you can designate a specific, safe, (clean) thing she can lick if it is stimming that she wants.

Thanks, Pam! You're advice is always good!

LOL about not negotiating w/ terrorists...I often refer to Miss Ava as "Tina the Tiny Terrorista"!

1-2-3 Magic SOUNDS great in theory, but I don't think she's got the capacity to grasp it yet, kwim?


I bought that book when Ali was 6 or 7. Tressa would have been 2-3 at the time and I did not use it with her until she was a little older.

Vicky's idea was great- if you catch her licking something inappropriate you could tell her " you can't lick that but you can lick this" and offer the more appropriate thing to lick.

Thanks, guys! The FT wants us to try to offer food items to lick...that's why we're keeping popsicles, lollipops (LOL, Ava calls them "P-pops") on hand for her to lick...it doesn't last very long. OT says spitting/biting is more behavioral and for attention (dh mentioned this today when she bit him), so we're going to start time-outs. OT suggested a gate in her doorway at first, just putting her in her room, and then we can move to a specific timeout chair. Dh's "report" was just a little delayed, LOL.

I'll get to talk to her more tomorrow!