Fellow Parents!
Lately, our n00b has been getting a bit more of a personality, and becoming a bit more obstreperous as a consequence. Usually she is a very quiet, placid and contented baby, but if you do something that she doesn't like, she'll now release a loud stream of indecipherable baby invective at you, to let you know how much she disapproves. So far, so normal...
The trouble is that shortly before or after cussing you out in a long blue streak of baby talk, she gives you a good hard bite, to make sure that you know damn well that she didn't want to get out of the bath, or wear her coat, or stop pouring her milk onto the carpet. Now obviously this is a bit of a problem, 'cause n00bs have sharp teeth, and can easily break the skin on my forearms, the usual target.
I try not to make too much of a fuss when bitten in case it is attention-seeking behaviour, though obviously the process of detaching the vicious vampire baby and getting out the first aid kit is not a fuss-free endeavour. I simply place her in solitary confinement for a few minutes (Hilts, cooler!) by way of punishment.
However, this does not appear to be working. The toddler is as bloodthirsty as ever. We've never used physical punishment on our n00b, and none of her little friends are bitey monsters, so she's clearly arrived at the idea of biting the hand that feeds her all on her own. Since putting her into solitary has so far done nothing to prevent her from showing her displeasure with her teeth, has anyone got any tips on how to stop toddlers from biting? Otherwise I'm going to have to get a muzzle...