Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 he has bitten three children this afternoon and attempted to bite two staff members has anyone got any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 How old is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 How old is he? Just turned 3 he went after one child several times we had to give that child one to one in the end because he was too scared to move and I had to stand between them dashing over to the scared child everytime he came near because he would just attempt to go for him again - he has no awareness of personal space or what is right and wrong and I am not even sure if he knows he is hurting people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 What did his parents say when you told them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 biting has been discussed before with lots of useful suggestions to try, so try a 'search forum posts' for past topics. Unfortunately these types of behaviour don't improve overnight, patience, trial and error on strategies, discovering possible triggers (and these are not normally the obvious, could be as obscure as the 'victim' was wearing red). Then there's the job of supportingthe victims to deal with the behaviour, and helping the parents to be understanding and even compassionate to the perpetrators needs without compromising confidentialities. Get support from your area SENCO too. I do hope this behaviour 'phase' resolves itself asap for all involved. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 he has bitten three children this afternoon and attempted to bite two staff members has anyone got any ideas? Hi We had a child who used to bite. After speaking to our Senco we observed what was happening just before the child bit. We had to decide whether it was frustratin or attention, and to try and intervene to stop the next step which was to bite. She did however suggest that we should give the child a softish ball to bite on, if they felt the need. Don`t know that I agreee with this , but it may work, if the child understands why they are biting, the idea was that the ball would be their stress releae. Biting is common and hopefully with the correct intervention it will stop. Kyra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 oh dear i do feel for you and all the children - area SENCO is a must to help you with this situation. You need to record any and every detail of what the triggers/incidents etc are to see if there is some sort of pattern good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I think it's really important to try to work out what is the cause of the bite - some children like the sensation in which case ensuring that they have a special thing of their own to bite is really useful. It's different if you feel it's a social thing though and if you feel this child has no concept of right or wrong then it sounds more like that. I would suggest lots of observation - which I'm sure you're doing, using ABC, supporting the child in developing empathy through stories, feelings faces and puppets and ensuring you have good communication with home - finding out about his social skills at home etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I think it's really important to try to work out what is the cause of the bite - some children like the sensation in which case ensuring that they have a special thing of their own to bite is really useful. It's different if you feel it's a social thing though and if you feel this child has no concept of right or wrong then it sounds more like that. I would suggest lots of observation - which I'm sure you're doing, using ABC, supporting the child in developing empathy through stories, feelings faces and puppets and ensuring you have good communication with home - finding out about his social skills at home etc Yeah think home stuff is going to be a problem too. As lovely as the parents are they do have issues themselves there are ALOT of professionals involved with this child and we have been warned the mum is likely to come in a start a row with us. I will update more later need to go to work now thanks for the biting ball suggestion might see how that goes down with people.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I have found that some children also find biting as a method of showing affection, particularly if it is one child or adult targeted.. it was their way of showing they liked them and they only bit the people they liked, be it children or staff. We try to target the child doing the biting for observing and 1:1 if possible to prevent it or try to intervene before the incident.. not always successfully, but it did reassure all other children . Inge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 As everyone seems to be advising - you need to find the triggers and try and stay one jump ahead. It's not a nice situation particularly if the 'victim's' parents get peeved about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I agree Inge, my eldest daughter was a biter at age 2-3 and she was very misunderstood by the people around her. She was soooo affectionate she wanted to kiss and cuddle other children all the time but sometimes if they did not react to her in the way she expected she would bite them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Hi I know how frustrating it is!!!! Iv'e had a few biters over the years. What are his triggers???? If you stand and do a plan or time tracker so you have evidance. A few short obs before and after and may be you could fimd a common trigger. Then you can plan straigies with every one to combat that perticular child. Hope this helps Kat-x- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I agree Inge, my eldest daughter was a biter at age 2-3 and she was very misunderstood by the people around her. She was soooo affectionate she wanted to kiss and cuddle other children all the time but sometimes if they did not react to her in the way she expected she would bite them Thanks for sharing this, dcn: just proves why we have to be so careful not to label children on the basis of what they do. However it can be hard to get to the kernel of the issue and really understand what is going on for the child - good job we're a patient lot! Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 oww we certainly do need patience - but i agree we are far too quick to label our little ones - but i do feel i could do with a degree in child psychology sometimes to help me work out what is going on- and nooooo Maz - i said i could not would!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I have been reading this thread with interest. we have a couple of biters at the moment, they seem to be biting for no reason, we have been observing them to see if there are any indicators etc, at snack time the children were all sitting eating snack, he bent down and bite the child next to him on the hand, an adult was opposite and the other child did nothing to him, later in the same session at story time, the child next to him put there hand on his shoulder and he bit him(different child)...he walked over and cuddled a child and bite him on the cheek...mother is really concerned and the other parents aren't happy.... does anyone have a leaflet or anything you can give a parent about biting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Sorry but you didn't say how old the child was. We had a young child 17months and this was her way of showing affection. I think she thought it was kissing because everyone kissed her she copyed and ended up biteing!!!! But the little girl use to do exactly what you are saying!!!!! We gave lots of effection to toys, teedies dollies ect. Got the parents involved and got them to let her kiss them ect it took a while but it worked. Hope this helps KAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 sorry the child is 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cazz Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I have a 3 year old child in my setting who is always bitting his parents, he bites hard enough to leave very big bruises. They told me he does it only to them and not his sister but his behaviour towards them is very bad at home. They said we need your advise we dont know what to do with him, he is fine while at the setting but he does only come 2 days aweek. if you were me what would you advise them to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I think they should work out what the triggers are, and try and stay a jump ahead. Teach him some strategies for dealing with his frustrations if it's that which is causing the biting. It can be that the child thinks they are kissing - I've had that before, in which case it's not so hard to correct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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