Biting at Daycare

I'm a daycare provider and from my experience as long as she is making sure her child knows what hes doing is wrong and taking the child away from the other children to chill out that the child should learn very quickly what not to do. It is a normal thing for kids to bite but they should be taught imedietly not to and that it hurts other children.There are lots of reasons for it and I'm not sure how old the child is but teething, wanting attention, seeing how far they can go, or just simply wondering what its like to bite. But there are cases where the child wont stop biting. I would give it awhile make sure to tell your son it's not right to bite and if you have the nerve ask your provider what she is doing to disipline the child when they bite. If things dont get better then I would pull my child because it's not a safe environment. Hope this helps!

I agree with the other posts. My oldest daughter was actually the first to bite at daycare and I was mortified and felt terrible about it. She bit for a few weeks off and on -- not very much. She never did it at home, but there seemed to be a trigger at daycare with some new kids joining daycare. I felt terrible for the other kids and parents. We worked through it, and my oldest hasn't bitten since.

Then about a year later it was my youngest who got bitten by another child. Since I knew how horrible I felt when it was my child who had done the biting and I knew it was just something that could happen very unpredictably, I was able to just let it go. I wouldn't let it go on and on, but I do think it is a normal thing that could happen. I would just want to see that your provider is doing things to teach her child that biting is not appropriate and also take steps to show your child that it is "not nice to bite" -- either yourself or anyone else.

Good luck -- it really scared me at first and I didn't know why it was happening, but I think between teething and territory issues, biting is a fairly normal little "risk" around other kids that age.

How sad!! Is the provider keeping a close eye on the children? Does she feel bothered by the fact that your son is getting hurt? You have to remember that you are the only one to advocate for your son right now. Does he like going? I would be very concerned that he is hurting himself!! Remember, this is just advice, but if it were my son, I think that if I didn't see the provider bothered by it, I would start looking at different options for his daycare. Good luck! It's so hard to see our kids hurt, but if you can help him, go for it!

The daycare my child goes to has a three bite rule. If your child bites three times in one day he or she is sent home for the day. The parents are also conferenced with to come up with solution to curn the biting. All kids bite but you want to do everything you can to curb it. My child got bit alot then after awhile got tired of it and became the biter.

Your daycare provider needs to stop that from happening. A lot of kids go through a biting stage (my 1st son did but it only lasted a few days because we dealt with it - and I am not saying it would be that easy for every child). I would tell you daycare provider that if it doesn't stop you will have to pull your son. I think that is really the only option, find another place to take him. It is obvioulsy having an impact on him if he is biting himself. Just make sure you tell him it is not okay to bite, not even himself, to try and curtail the problem.

How old is her son? When I worked at a daycare we had a child that bit a lot - not maliciously - just out of frustration or because it felt good. When they are getting teeth in it relieves the pressure to bit (doesn't make the other person feel any better). Some of the techniques we used with that child are:
1) He wore a teether or another small toy that was okay to bite on his shirt (strapped it on with a pacifier hook) - that way if he wanted to bite he could bite that. It actually worked really well.
2) He would have a time out when he bit - it was more of a play by the adults by himself for a little while. He was a little younger than 2. He didn't get hardly any attention from the adult sitting by him as we didn't want it to appear as a reward.
3) He had to comfort the child he bit. If the bite was hard he had to hold the ice pack on the wound - sometimes it was more us holding his hand on the ice pack.
4) Give most of the attention to the bitten child to make the child that bit realize that they won't get any attention that way.
5) After it was all over he had to say he was sorry and give a hug (hug only if the other child wanted it).

It's also important to figure out why he's biting. I do know it's normal toddler behavior (my child did it - however, typically only bit me). He could be biting out of frustration or because the other kids are teasing him.

This is a touchier subject because it's the providers child, but I'm sure she wants to stop the behavior as much as you want it stopped.

Good luck.

Biting is very normal but never asseptable. I am a preschool teacher and a mom of 4. I would sugggest having your provider make a time to talk to all her little friend about how friends treat each other. You could also go buy the book mouths are not for bitting. I can't remember the author but this serie help children about kicking hitting bitting and all the issues children deal with , with growing up. You can't control what goes on at daycare but I would keep assure your child that we bite food and not ourself or our friends. Have your child help you make a list of things he may bite. Also a song about friends and how w treat other is always a good one. I would tell you provider to take some time and fit it into her schedule. Bitting is hurtful and not ok