Nasty bitter

The deal breaker for me would be the moment one of the bites broke the skin, drawing blood. In daycare centers when a bite gets that bad the child must go to the hospital for a tetanus shot and the incident is reported to the ministry.

In my home daycare, I would do as some have already mentioned above:

*Give a time-out to the child when the incident happens and give all of the attention to the injured child.
*Put the child in a playpen or high chair when you can't be within arms reach of him.
*go over "what biting is for" (we bite food, not friends etc) but after a few days I would work on forgetting about the "biting", as in don't mention it and work on the positives, praise for good behaviour
*look at your program and see what can be done to keep the child interested, there for distracted for the thought of biting
*have teething rings available

If all of the above has been worked on for a good chunk of time OR blood is drawn, I would terminate.

I think most of us on this forum have dealt with a biter at what time or another. Your biter is very aggressive. Is he verbal? Is he just biting out of absoultely no reason? Drawing blood is very serious.

I had a DCB that started biting at around 22 months. He never drew blood. He also shoved and was aggressive. I had to shadow him for a few weeks, time outs, constant reminders on how to treat friends, etc. It took work, but now he's the sweetest and polite little guy. He is still full energy, but matured. But wow, your biter sounds a lot more aggressive. I would be worried that he might seriously hurt another child. You might lose clients:( You have to think about how much work you want to put yourself in. Think about it. :mellow:

I had a child start biting as well around the same age, not only was she underdeveloped in speech but after shadowing her for a few days I witnessed what motivated her to bite. She would see a toy and try to take it from a friend if they wouldn't give it up she bit.

I tried different time out methods and the one that became the most effective was setting up a playpen in a separate room and isolating her for her time outs. If they act like there time out is a walk in the park then it's not effective.

My bitter stopped biting in a month and everytime she is triggered I make her give back the toy and apologize. Her bites were pretty bad she even bit another child on the eye.

I got the same from the parents that she didn't show this behavior at home but being an only child who is she going to bite her Mom? Not likely.

It's a hard one if the child is breaking skin especially if your own are being victimized. Do you think be is doing it out of jealousy? He may see the special bond that you have and feel left out. It's tough missing his own Mom all day. Maybe he needs a few extra cuddles, I always give each of my daycare kids some special one on one time. Hugs really could be all her needs.

Biting is a deal breaker for me. Mainly because its a deal breaker for the parents of the child who was Bitten. It's a terrible conversation to have with the "victim's" parents and more often than not they want answers (rightly so) and and some action. My policy on biting is the first time a child bites they are given a letter indicating the incident and that if it occurs again they are terminated immediately (I also have this process outlined in my contract). The second time they bite, they have to go. I don't care if it was two different children. I don't care if it did or did not break the skin. I can not have bitter in care. It could very well cost me other families. I also will not shadow one on one any of my dck's. I have six children to care for and if I am shadowing one intently that means the others are not being well cared for IMO. Unfortunately I think you will need to let this child go. They are a liability and it would really be awful if one of your great family's decided to pull their child because of violent kid in your daycare.

Wow thanks everyone. Yes this child is an only child. I do give the kids one on one special time. I find with him it does'nt seem to help cause the bitting occurs again. I like the idea of a playpen for a time out. My current time out does not seem to be working well so thank you for that idea. As for shadowing him that will be tough so I may have to do the booster chair often. This child does'nt really play with other children, his parents had told me that. They were hoping being at daycare would help him with that. He is never angry when he does anything aggressive, he just seems to get the idea in his head then attack while smilling and laugh after.

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Originally Posted by Bugaboo

Biting is a deal breaker for me. Mainly because its a deal breaker for the parents of the child who was Bitten. It's a terrible conversation to have with the "victim's" parents and more often than not they want answers (rightly so) and and some action. My policy on biting is the first time a child bites they are given a letter indicating the incident and that if it occurs again they are terminated immediately (I also have this process outlined in my contract). The second time they bite, they have to go. I don't care if it was two different children. I don't care if it did or did not break the skin. I can not have bitter in care. It could very well cost me other families. I also will not shadow one on one any of my dck's. I have six children to care for and if I am shadowing one intently that means the others are not being well cared for IMO. Unfortunately I think you will need to let this child go. They are a liability and it would really be awful if one of your great family's decided to pull their child because of violent kid in your daycare.

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Not to be rude but how do you not have time to shadow a child? What kind of activities are you doing with the other kids that keeps you so engaged as to not be able to watch all of them at the same time? I know it can be a challenge to gear your eyes toward one specifically but is not our jobs to ensure all the kids are getting the best care. A child biting is usually out of some kind of frustration from my experience. I think as effective providers it's our duty to at least try help the child through this experience.

It isn't the provider that shadows the child it is the child that shadows the provider meaning the provider goes about her normal day and the child must stay within arms reach at all times - sitting just outside the door while she pees, sitting beside the kitchen cabinet while she cooks lunch, standing beside the change table while she changes the baby then goes in a playpen while she goes to put the baby to bed. The child is the one that suffers from not getting to play but must not be given undue attention from being one on one with the adult - ie he/she sits or stands nearby and there is no further interaction while the caregiver goes about her day. A few well placed reminders about how much child is missing out on because they are mean to their friends and then when available child is allowed to play with the adult right there.

You can't explain this to a 21 month old and if you don't know what is motivating the behavior then how can you correct it. I only shadowed my daycare child until I saw the offense occur. Then I had a better understanding on how to correct the behavior.

Through this method we we're were successful in stopping the behavior.

I had an aggressive child once and I used the playpen for time out as he didn't stay still in my time out. He climbed out of the playpen. LOL I would put him in a booster chair and he'd push against the table, almost pushed the chair over several times. I ended up having to put this 2 year old in a highchair with the 5 point strap on him. That was the only way. He got better... sort of. He's no longer with me.

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Originally Posted by Skysue

Not to be rude but how do you not have time to shadow a child? What kind of activities are you doing with the other kids that keeps you so engaged as to not be able to watch all of them at the same time? I know it can be a challenge to gear your eyes toward one specifically but is not our jobs to ensure all the kids are getting the best care. A child biting is usually out of some kind of frustration from my experience. I think as effective providers it's our duty to at least try help the child through this experience.

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My understanding of "shadowing" is following one specific child around (in this case the biter) CONSTANTLY. I do not have time to do this because I have six children in care. I am busy prepping meals/snacks, dressing kids to go outside, changing diapers, assisting in the washroom, wiping noses, table activities, story time, circle time, and supervising ALL the kids during free play. So no I will not shadow a biter. And I won't tolerate biters in my day home simply because my parents will not tolerate their children being bitten.