It’s official: my daughter is a biter. Yes, that sweet little nearly 17 month old girl you see there has a serious biting problem. Thankfully thus far she’s only be gnawing on her brother. (Clearly he doesn’t share my relief.) But I am REALLY worried about this summer when she starts attending Mom’s Day Out. I’m sure she’ll be that girl who bites every child in her class. I can already envision the calls from the teachers to tell me she left teeth marks on some poor child.
I have no idea how to handle it. My son was not a biter (that I know of) so this is my first time dealing with this. I assume it’s due in large part to the fact that she has no other way to express herself. She still doesn’t talk much. But, her biting is not limited to when she’s mad or when her brother takes a toy or something. They’ll be playing side by side and next thing you know she’s leaving teeth marks on his shoulder. (And it only take a second and, I swear, she’s close to drawing blood. Girl may only have 6 teeth, but she knows how to use them!) To this point, I’ve been very consistent and said the same thing every time she does it (“We don’t bite. Biting hurts. No bite!”), but she continues to do it almost every day.
Did/does your child bite? How did/do you handle it? I’d love some advice on how to muzzle my little biter!
Nicole Feliciano
April 13, 2010Someone I know (ok me) had to go to preschool during the first week to pick up her child (ok my daughter) for biting.
It happens, it’s normal. 0 tolerance is the way to go, but don’t fret. We got over it quickly.
Jennifer @ J. Leigh Designz
April 14, 2010Sorry, neither of my kids were biters luckily. Johnny has a biter in his class when he was that age and it was horrible to be on the receiving end. He wound up in the hospital once they bit him so hard. (broke the skin and caused bleeding on his face!). Good luck! I do know the child eventually outgrow it.
Emilie
April 14, 2010My three year old Lucian was not a biter but he got bit so hard on his cheek at daycare when he was 14 months he had a huge welt/black and blue bruise for days. He had also got bitten at a different daycare multiple times. That was a problem because the little boy was just plain mean and would constantly push the other kids down, hit them, torment them. It was horrible and I wanted them gone because the parents acted like it was no big deal. Warren bit a few times but always got the No biting! response and into time out. One time he was in the bathtub and bit Lucian on the back. Bath was over for him & boy was he sad. The other times we had to use the crib too because it was the only way we could get him to stay and putting him in a chair for time out only made him laugh. As soon as he was stuck in his crib, removed from the situation he would cry. Which is what I wanted. It isn’t funny and he needs to understand that he is in trouble. Only happened a few times at least.
LeeAnn
April 14, 2010Hopefully it is just a phase that will pass quickly! My kids are in daycare and after my daughter was the victim of several biters for weeks, she became one herself. It didn’t last too long, thank goodness, but I was signing at least two “incident reports” a week where she had either been bitten, or bit someone. I think it is something that a lot of toddlers go through, especially when they are at that stage where they are really trying to communicate, but can’t talk real well yet. Good luck to you!
Felicia
April 16, 2010So funny that you posted this! Graham decided (and he was never a biter) that he was going to bite me 2 days ago. He was frustrated because I asked him not to do something and he ran. He found himself cornered when I got to him to try to sort things out and he just leaned forward and bit my belly button (it is sticking out now bc of the pregnancy). I still have a mark! We had a VERY serious discussion about this and I showed him where I was virtually bleeding and he started crying. You are right, I think that they are just frustrated and it is instinct. Once she is old enough to realize that what she is doing really IS hurting others I bet that will change things as well. You might also want to get this book: Teeth are Not for Biting http://www.freespirit.com/catalog/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=112&CAT_ID=35
I love this company! We have the hands are not for hitting and feet are not for kicking books.
Jan A
June 15, 2010My oldest daughter was a biter for just a little while. A frim ‘no’ and removing her from the situation did the trick.