What To Do About Biting

It is important to first understand that children sometimes bite, and that behavior is developmentally appropriate. With that said, it’s such a disturbing event for parents, that we do need to take very seriously and do everything we can to help children develop more appropriate coping mechanisms so that biting is kept to an absolute minimum. Here you can find some advice for when your child is the child being bit or if your child is the one doing the biting. When a child is an active “biter,” the parent can implement strategies to help reduce biting behaviors including, documenting all bites including the antecedent and actions taken after the bite. Once you begin tracking when and where the biting occurs you can figure out what is causing your child to bite. Sometimes the child is biting out of hunger, if the biting is consistently occurring between breakfast and lunch, you can try providing them an extra snack between meals and see if that changes the behavior. Children also tend to bite when they are teething, if you think this may be the cause, try providing a teething ring the child can carry or wear. Continue reviewing patterns of biting behavior to determine whether there is any pattern that can lead to action to prevent biting. Ensure that there are ample materials so as to avoid for arguments over a specific toy or favorite material, children tend to bite when arguing over a toy that they both are wanting to play with. If the biting continues, request a visit to the pediatrician for review of behavior and health issues and to see if the pediatrician might lend further assistance toward resolution of this issue. When a child is biting it is important that an adult is always close by and watching them closely to avoid them biting and injuring another child.

Continue to work on building language skills, both oral and through the use of sign language. Many times, kids bite because they do not have language, and they are frustrated. Once they have effective language skills, the biting subsides. When your child does bite, pay attention to the child who has been bitten, giving them loving care, immediate TLC, ice, and first aid. Tell the biter in a stern voice, “NO – we do not bite!” and remove the child from the area for a few moments, especially while first aid is given to the child who has received the bite. Make sure that the biting child does not receive any undue attention, and that the attention is placed on the child who has received the bite. (Sometimes kids do bite to receive attention; we want to make sure that we are not giving attention to the biting child).

When your child has been bitten by another child it is important to remain calm about the situation. I know it can feel very personal and hurtful when your child is bitten, remember that children do bite and it can happen and it wasn’t necessarily anything to do with your child, they were most likely just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Try not to draw too much attention to biting because this can give your child the message that this gets them attention and cause them to start biting. If your child has questions about biting simply reassure them that their friend made a bad choice and we don’t bite our friends.