Biting!

[JAK]

My jealous (dc) 2 year old had turned into a biting two year old!!! 8o Since August she has bit 5 times- two times this month. This last time broke the skin of the other child. I did tell her mom that if/when it happens again I will be giving her a two week notice to find other care.

This little girl bites (or trys to) at home so it's not something that's just happening here. I usually STOP her from biting about 5 times a day. She's doesn't have very good verbal skills and I know that she does it out of frustration and that it is a "normal" 2 year old behavior. She bits not only other people, but toys as well when she gets mad. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get her to STOP???

My own dd was a biter, but I took her out of dc and it stopped. She was also younger than this little girl though.

HELP!!! :\

[KarlaB]

No advice, just wanted to let you know I understand your frustration. My youngest ds bit our oldest ds all of the time until he could talk and voice his aggravations and frustrations. Don't know what you can do for the little one that you aren't already doing! Hang in there!!

[Linda/NE]

We've had a lot of biters in daycare lately. I attended a session on biting at a conference a couple months ago. There is no sure-fire cure that they could give us though. One of the things they did say was to pay close attention to the circumstances that lead up to biting and then try to re-direct/intervene before the biting happens.

They also talked about how a child will bite and the attention automatically goes to the hurt child first, which, in the case of the biter biting to get a toy from the other child, means the biter will get that toy for a while and it's delayed consequences.

They really didn't give a lot of definite strategies for handling it. It sounds like you've tried a lot already. If I remember anymore from the conference, I'll let you know. Good luck!

[MaryL]

Are you giving her a "time-out"...as best as you can for a 2 year old? Maybe put her in a play pen. Make the consequence IMMEDIATE. Put her in the play pen and say, "No Biting!". You're probably doing something like this already...but it's all I could think of. My dks weren't biters...thank goodness!

[JAK]

Originally posted by MaryL
Are you giving her a "time-out"...as best as you can for a 2 year old? Maybe put her in a play pen. Make the consequence IMMEDIATE. Put her in the play pen and say, "No Biting!". You're probably doing something like this already...but it's all I could think of. My dks weren't biters...thank goodness!

I put her in time out the moment it happens.

Yesterday she was here and she bit twice! :\ The same child at that. I thought she only did it once but the mom found another bite mark when she got home. 8o I did give them two weeks notice like I said that I would. I cried! I do love this child, but it's just not fair to the other children or to me. We have found care for her with another provider who is aware of her biting. I'm hoping that in a new enviornment she might stop- I'm not sure she will, but I am hoping. I will know this weekend if she will be back with me next week or if she's going to start on Monday at the new house. I hope for my sake that she's not coming back... but I do love this child and it makes me very sad that she won't be here anymore. :(

[Leigh]

{{{JEN}}} I know that it may be hard to let her go, but when I worked at the dc center in Germany, we had a little girl that bit all the time, and they put her in another room and the biting stopped, do maybe changing providers will help. Hang in there! :D

[littlesista06]

Jen, I'm so sorry to hear about this - my dd was not a biter but was the 'victim' ;) of a biter once.
Sorry you're having to deal with this and to turn the child away - it sounds like the kids you take are so lucky that you care so deeply for them. :)
Hope all works out for the child. {{{hugs}}}