22 Month Old Biting

When my daughter was two years old she was biting the children in you class in daycare. She wasnt doing it at home. The daycare center told me that if she didnt stop she would not be able to come back. I am a single mother working full time and I was not getting child support so I didnt have anywhere else to take her if she got kicked out of daycare. I took a drastic measure. I figured she did not understand how painful biting was so I thought that if I showed her that she would understand. When I first bit her she thought it was funny, so I figured that that is what she thought the other kids were thinking. I had to bite her harder. I bit her just hard enough for her to cry but I did not leave any marks on her. It took mabey five minutes for her to understand that biting was not funny. After that the daycare said that she did not bite anyone. I know this sounds cruel but I did not bite her hard enough to leave any marks and she seemed to understand. I kept telling her that biting was bad and it didnt seem to click until it was done to her.

As a preschool teacher for toddlers, I go thru this all the time. biting is a normal behavior for toddlers. Some toddlers hit, some pinch, some push and some bite and all for diffrent reasons. Most times the child is bitting because he wants something. We usually tell the child bitting hurts and it is not acceptable behavior and remove the child to a safe spot for about 2 min. then set them at the table with a book or quiet toy for another 2 min. then let them join the group. We also, sometimes have them help us make the victom feel better by holding ice on the childs booboo and explaining that the child is sad because the bitting hurt and show the mark he left. I hope this helps.

hello M.,

I think as parents we may have or will go through this stage with our children. How long it lasts is upto the parents. My advice to you is too 1. try and figure out why the child is biting? is their a new sibling in the household? has he just started school? than try talking to him about it, read him books about it, than if this does not work, consider time outs right after the biting occurs. I had this problrm with my son when he first started pre-school, i went through all the motions i just stated and he gave up the biting after 2 incidents, thank-God :))

PS: I have seen parents not address the situation right away and have had numerous of incidents. I don't blame the child in this instance because the parents should be the responsible ones to teach the child.

Good Luck!!

Dear Michelle,

I read somewhere many years ago that it could be a mineral deficiency and there are mineral supplements that can be purchased for children. We went through the same thing and it was horrible. We used to call our daughter dracula. Don't believe it when someone says to bite them back. We tried it and it did not work. Try to give her things that she can chew on. Her molars could be coming in. I do not know. The other thing I did was calcium drinks from the health food store. Just be patient and she will grow out of it. But, it is a real drag going through it. Our youngest bit her sister so hard she broke the skin on her wrist. We just got into the habit of not letting her mouth near us. That is the best that I can offer.

D.

Have you tried putting something hot or something that the child does not like on the place she or he is biting. Try to make the child bite something hot or nasty after the incident occurs.