Do you Term Biters?

[EchoMom]

WWYD Opinions please:

I have a NEW 23month old boy. Been with me only one week. Last week he climbed into a PNP of a SLEEPING BABY and bit her! The baby was totally sleeping, it was completely unprovoked. He climbed in, bit the baby hard enough to leave a mark for the whole weekend. (No bruising though???! I suspected it was ringworm, but it seems that it is in fact a bite mark.)

Today, my DS 24months and the DCB 23months had a little skirmish over a toy and the DCB bit my DS HARD. We iced it and the marks went away, but it still left a total bruise ring and broke a bit of skin.

This is 2 bites in only a week. It seems he is an experienced biter too, as they are not wet marks or little bites, but full complete, clamp down, break skin bites.

So, question, what would you do?

Would you return money recieved and term immediately?
Would you wait to see if I can improve the behavior?

Today we are watching him like a HAWK and it just doesn't seem realistic to be able to maintain that level of undivided attention on one child when their are others to be scanning and supervising too.

What concerns me most is the first incident, to climb intot he PNP of a sleeping baby and BITE HARD completely unprovoked!

Please tell me what you would do, have done in the past. I really want to figure out what, if anything to say to the parent at pick up.

THANK YOU THANK YOU.

[Cat Herder]

climbed into a PNP of a SLEEPING BABY and bit her!

So, question, what would you do?

.

1. I would term immediately. I would split the difference in cost or take it entirely..

2. I would put up a permanent barrier to keep all future kids from having access to sleeping infants. Thin PNP walls are a suggestion to stay out, not a barrier, IMHO.

[MamaBearCanada]

If you can't provide a safe environment for the others and you don't have the manpower to supervise him at a necessary level then I'd term. If you decide to keep him I'd put him on probation and work out a behaviour plan in writing that the parents must sign. Document everything.

Something to consider: I can't imagine that the mother of the infant was happy. I'd be furious. If DCK bites baby again I would put money on the fact that you will lose them. I know accidents and squabbles between children happen but a baby should be safe from harm. In keeping him you risk losing other families.

[littlemissmuffet]

I would terminate.

When I am told a child is a biter, I will not even go ahead with continue an interview. If I were to discover in the first few days of enrollment that a child was a biter I would term. I will work with current children who become biters... but even then, I'm extremely intolerant and will term if I don't see immediate improvement after being put on probation.

[tenderhearts]

I personally would not term, at least yet. I would just be sure the biter is by me AT ALL TIMES. If I have to go to another room either take him with me or place him in a high chair. I would not allow him to play with another child unless I am right there.

[Blackcat31]

I personally would not term, at least yet. I would just be sure the biter is by me AT ALL TIMES. If I have to go to another room either take him with me or place him in a high chair. I would not allow him to play with another child unless I am right there.

I would also go this route BUUUUT I would not personally provide this type of one on one supervision but would hire an assistant/helper to provide CLOSE one on one care for the child until he/she learned not to bite anymore.

I would charge a higher rate for that kind of one to one care though because I personally cannot physically manage it while caring for the other kids.

If the parents were unhappy with that arrangement, they would be free to choose an alternate child care facility.

[Cat Herder]

would hire an assistant/helper to provide CLOSE one on one care for the child until he/she learned not to bite anymore.

I would charge a hirer rate for that kind of none to one care though because I personally cannot physically manage it while caring for the other kids.

If the parents were unhappy with that arrangement, they would be free to choose an alternate child care facility.

That is the only way I can see it working, too.

If a single provider has to shadow one kid all day... who is watching the rest? I just could not do it or risk losing my world over it.

[EchoMom]

For those that say they would term...

When would you term? What do you mean by IMMEDIATE? This family just paid me 2 weeks in advance yesterday, plus I have a one week deposit from them.

So If I termed TODAY I would need to give back the 2 weeks plus the rest of this week's deposit money? Which is fine, I CAN afford to term him, and the money is still in the bank. I'm just trying to figure out what exactly to tell the parent.

Should I say TODAY is his last day? ZERO notice? Or should I say that Friday is his last day and this will be his deposit week and return the 2 weeks pay? (And then just keep him quarantined rest of week).

This is what my contract says:
Termination Policy
The client may terminate this contract by giving one week's written notice in advance of the ending date. The provider may terminate the contract without notice and refund the prorated deposit amount if unable to complete the final week of care for any reason. Payment by the client is due for the notice period, whether or not the child is brought to the provider for care. The one week deposit can be applied as payment in full for the final week.


Thank you very much for advice!

[coolconfidentme]

Did parents pre-warn you of his shark attack behavior???

[Michelle]

I would definitely term... these types of biters just get worse and as he has proven ...very brazen!

I have worked with biters and got them to stop but this crawling into the pcp really makes me mad!

Give them the 2 weeks and keep the deposit or this weeks money.
I think they knew he would do this!
They should have warned you.

[EchoMom]

No, they gave me no warning that he was a biter.

I'm so upset, I hate the drama that comes with a termination!

But I also don't want ANYONE else getting bitten. And I can't trust him AT ALL because if he will climb into the PNP of a sleeping baby and bite... WTF?!

[Cat Herder]

I'm sorry, I should have explained.

My POV would be from my CCR&R and the family of the infants. This would be a reportable injury here and viewed as completely my fault. I would have been cited. (No judgment , just part of my regs.)

The tuition cost would not enter into consideration for me. A toddler biting an infant, here, would get me shut down until the investigation of my supervision and safe infant sleep practices was complete. No grey area at all is afforded to us..

"Immediate Termination" would have been the day of the bite on the infant. It would be proactive in anticipation of having to prove I am putting a permanent plan into action to come back into compliance.

[EchoMom]

I am so stressed out about this decision!

[nannyde]

I would term immediately and report to licensing. There are a couple of issues here. You should prepare for a licensing visit.

Since he just started you are going to be questioned on how he got from where he sleeps to the baby playpen...then up the wall of the playpen...then over the playpen...to the baby... and then out without you seeing it. A minimum standard of supervision would be to KNOW the physical prowess of ANY kid that has physical access to the babies. Just him being ABLE to scale a playpen wall and GET to the baby is a HUGE problem. He could have crushed her, broken her neck, or suffocated her. Biting her is terrible but the State is going to know it could have been way way way worse. They are going to want assurance that you have fixed your environment and receive supervision training to make sure that doesn't happen again. This is the REAL serious issue here. Terming and returning money is the easy thing to do.

I pray you read my words with a soft tone and pure concern for you and the kids. This is a pretty serious supervision situation.

[melilley]

I had a biter. And he hit and pulled hair. He started here just shy of being 18 months old and is now almost 24 months old. His parents (after is started happening) told me he came from a licensed group home and that all the kids were older than him and were mean to him so he picked up on it.
I didn't have the heart to term him so I didn't. I constantly had him follow me around if I couldn't be right next to him, if I was cooking, he "cooked", if I had to put something away, he helped etc... I always was showing him nice touches too. After about 3 months of constantly redirecting, shadowing and showing nice touches, he all of a sudden stopped biting! He still pulls hair and we are working on that. I just kept thinking that if he went somewhere else, then that person might term and the cycle would go on and on so I kept him. But I do have to say that it was a very rough few months! And I had just opened and had not one piece of backbone (still working on that) and besides not wanting the child to go somewhere else in case they didn't work with him or worse was mean, I just didn't have the heart to do it.
He still gives me a run for my money, but at least he isn't biting anymore. If I had to do it all over again, I'm not sure if I would feel the same way.

Sorry, I'm probably not much help, but kids can change, it's whether or not you can deal with it and have the time to spend with them until they do...if they do.
Good luck!