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Member here logged out because I'm embarrassed. My son just bit another child. He's almost 2.5. Its his first time doing this. I've cleaned the area and applied a cold compress. It didn't break the skin. I'm treating my son like I would any other child who bit in regards to now being my shadow. Obviously I can't send him home for the day since he lives here, but he will be separate from the other children. My question is how do I approach the other parents? Do I call them at work? Wait until pickup? I'm thoroughly mortified that my own son did the biting.
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If the bite isn't bad (and it doesn't sound like it is since the skin was not broken) I would wait until pick up.
When someone bites, I always send home a "bite report" to both parents. The parents of the child who bit and the parents of the child who did not bite. Obviously since this is your child, you will just be sending a report home to the child who was bitten. You do not need to tell the parents it was your child. I never give names of who bit who.
The report going to the child who was bit looks something like this:
Child’s Name: (this would be the child who was bit, not the biter)
Date incident occurred: 11/14/2016
Details of incident: While playing blocks with another child, Johnny was bit on his right arm below his elbow. The skin was not broken.
Treatment given: The child who bit Johnny was immediately separated. The bite area was washed with soap and water, and a cold compress was applied.
I then have the parents sign the report, I keep the original and the parents keep a copy. -
I would let the parents know that their child was bitten, and is ok. Sounds like you're handling it appropriately. I'm sorry--I know it's difficult when it's your own child!Comment
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Personally, I'd just fill out some sort of incident report (not mentioning any names) and treat it like any other incident where a child got hurt.
Bites are a tough thing to deal with but it appears you've done everything you can to prevent it from happening again and any parent really should be able to understand and accept that. The only time IMHO that a parent has the right to be upset is when it happens repeatedly.Comment
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I personally would not disclose who the biter is. This is the usual policy at most daycares and is my policy here as well. I would outline what happened and the consequences for the child who bit and leave it at that.Comment
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If it were any other child who did the biting, I absolutely wouldn't disclose, and my son deserves privacy like any other. I guess, where I'm confused is that the child who was bit is of talking age and will tell his parents who the guilty party is. I'm afraid that when they find out from their son that its my son, it will seem like I hid it, which will make it seem worse. I've decided to not call right now because I don't want them to worry all day, and I'll write up the incident report for pick up time. I've used the cold butter knife trick on his wound and it seems like its in good shape. (In fact, he kept telling me he was all better and wanted to go play.) Now I'm going to stress about this all day.Comment
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Try not to stress. Your child is just like any other child enrolled in your program and deserves privacy. If the child who was bit discloses to their family that your child was the biter and the parents question it I would simply say: I'm sorry DCP's for privacy reasons I can't disclose who the biter was. What I can tell you is the two children were separated, the biter was my shadow and I will take every precaution possible to ensure this does not happen again.Comment
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