We Have A Biter, Any Advice?

[meganlavonnesmommy]

I just enrolled a new girl, age 2.
Mom said she had problems at her previous daycare (center) with biting. That the center required her to have a psych visit after her 3rd biting incident, and the psych suggested she may do better in a smaller setting. So they are seeking home care. Her previous group had 12- 2 year olds.

I'm willing to take her, and give it a try, but I'm nervous about the biting. I've never had any experiences with a biter. Any advice?

[Michael]

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=biter

[rjskids]

I have one too. I just try to watch the signs and I basically don't ever take my eyes off of her. She has bit 3 times since she has been here (which I am shocked the center suggested that they go somewhere else cause in my old center 3 times is mild!) Unfortunatly you have no idea what will work till you know what sets her off or what she understands. My DCG KNOWS she is not supposed to bite, she talks about it all the time, and usually her bites START with a hug! So as long as I don't let her hug anyone and I don't ever leave her alone in any area of the daycare then she has a good day. She seems to only try to do it when she knows I'm not watching (if I run into the bathroom to wash my hands she will literally sprint from one side of the room to the other and I'll come out and see her "hugging" another child). So I think she does do it for attention. Some do it out of defense, some do it cause they are overly tired and irritable, some do it for the sensory part of biting something. I would suggest you give the parents a cap (they bite so many times here in such an amount of time I will need to terminate). Ya never know...maybe the root of they're problem was that they get too overwhelmed around a large group of kids and the solution IS a smaller setting...we hope

[Cat Herder]

I know my old centers policy was 3 bites in a day had to be picked up and suspended 24 hours.

IMHO, If they got to the point that they told her a psych visit was mandatory to stay this was NOT a short term thing.

They must have tried VERY hard and then terminated after exhausting all options.

IME, The only thing you can do that actually works is shadow, separate when you can't be right on top of her, find the root of the problem...then find a way to remove/resolve the root.

Good luck, hun.

[JJPlaycare]

I have had two 2 year olds in my care that have both experimented with biting! One was doing more often then the other however! I came on here for advice and took it with me, but what I found out what was going on we have been bite free since July 7th!! The child who wasn't doing the biting consistently was I believe just copy catting when he was biting, but I started really watching his behavior and I found that he had a spacial boundary issue and was constantly in the biters space! I talked to my licensor who suggested setting up a seperate area for one of them at a time during free play when I couldn't be hovering! So I set up a seperate play area for the kids! I never used it as a punishment type thing! They have toys in there and are right here with the rest of the kids! It has helped tremendously and like I said I havent had a bite in over a month! The biter was having a hard time dealing with another child always being in his space and now that I have noticed this going on and began teaching about our personal bubbles biting has stopped! I think a smaller group will help your child out and a psych trip is kinda absurd if you ask me!!

[nannyde]

I just enrolled a new girl, age 2.
Mom said she had problems at her previous daycare (center) with biting. That the center required her to have a psych visit after her 3rd biting incident, and the psych suggested she may do better in a smaller setting. So they are seeking home care. Her previous group had 12- 2 year olds.

I'm willing to take her, and give it a try, but I'm nervous about the biting. I've never had any experiences with a biter. Any advice?

I would ask for a signed consent for you to talk to the center that termed her. You will need one for them to talk to you and one for you to talk to them.

I would also get a copy of the child's psych evaluation and get consents to talk with them and vice versa.

Find out what happened.. specifically if she was a face or back biter... how many and how often.... and why the psych doctor wants her in a small setting.

Something sounds really really really fishy here.