biting at child care

**jumpaway** · 19-01-2010 20:40

Our child was bitten multiple times on the back and rump and around the top of legs. After talking with day care I was told I was over reacting and things happen and our child needs to toughen up. I pulled our child out instantaneously. Was that the right thing to do? They are not obviously looking after the kids well. I'd love your oppinion on what to do. I'm so upset at the centers management.

**flyawayfree** · 19-01-2010 20:45

I don't see why the child should have multiple bites so yes I believe pulling them out was the right thing. The children should be supervised enough that they would never get more than one bite, if this.
I have been on the other side though, my DS was a biter. The couple of times I got told he had bitten someone I asked what had actually happened and they said they had no idea as they were doing something else and when they turned around my ds had someones fingers in his mouth, I however know he wouod NEVER grab someone's hand and put it in his mouth...

They should have an incident report and you can request to see it.

**1+1=5** · 19-01-2010 20:47

damn straight you did the right thing! what a horrible attitude to have by someone who cares for children. They could have been a bit more sympathetic and looked into the case but if they are that blaze then i would question their supervision and what they would call serious

**Myztiks#1Fan** · 19-01-2010 20:52

my son now has a scar near his belly button due to biting at daycare. the director went absolutely off and sent this other kid home(still got no idea who the other kid was though) but i thought if coop can deal the bits out, he can take them.sure i dont sound nice but at least my son knows what its like to be bitten when he went through his biting stage.

i do believe you did the right thing and the staff should of been watching however sometimes the kids are just too quick and you can miss out on things.

**xxchloexx** · 19-01-2010 20:59

My son has been bitten a few times on the cheek and arms! I cant say me personally would take my son out of daycare cause of it! unless they were horrible bites that bleed or what ever! Just cause there is not overly much a daycare can do when kids bite other then time out. But when he does get bitten and they tell be about it i tell them not to complain to me when he starts biting kids back, and eventually that did happen! there isnt to much a parent can do about there kids biting at daycare, well if they r young and bite someone att school i believe u cant exactly punish them when they get home, they wouldnt have any clue as to why they were in trouble!

there is always something wrong at every daycare, its either biting or swearing or hitting or wat ever!

But that fact they told u, you were over reacting and that ur child needs to toughen up, thats a bit rude of them!

**xxchloexx** · 19-01-2010 21:03

Originally Posted by me n he

my son now has a scar near his belly button due to biting at daycare. the director went absolutely off and sent this other kid home(still got no idea who the other kid was though) but i thought if coop can deal the bits out, he can take them.sure i dont sound nice but at least my son knows what its like to be bitten when he went through his biting stage.

i do believe you did the right thing and the staff should of been watching however sometimes the kids are just too quick and you can miss out on things.

**Hootenanny** · 19-01-2010 21:11

I think biting at that age is fairly common and if you put a large group of pre-verbal children in a room together it is bound to happen, however the reaction from the centre was not appropriate. Your child does not need to toughen up, they need to put in place practices to ensure it doesn't continue to happen to your child. Usually it is the same child biting another child and they need to supervise the biter more closely.

**c38** · 19-01-2010 21:12

I think you did the right thing, there is no excuse for letting your child get multiple bites. You should ask to see the incident report/s as well.
I understand things happen and carers dont have eyes in the back of their head, hense when DS has come homw with a bite mark I wasn't fussed. But multiple bite marks makes one think they are a) not noticing and B) not trying to teach the biter appropriate behavior

**lochiebearsmum** · 19-01-2010 21:18

absolutly you did the right thing! i would have gone as far to ring family services after the response management gave you.... known biters should be carefully monitored to ensure they are not attacking too many kids... if a child draws blood parents can go as far as insisting blood tests are done on both children to exclude hepatitis etc... i believe some kids are biters and some arent but its not something that should be taken lightly... bodily fluids are involved and thats not healthy

**Shananaaah** · 19-01-2010 21:18

I'm the mum of a Biter (he used to be, thank god that's over now) and I wanted to know Every Single Time it happened, what happened (although they obviously can't tell me who it happened to) and how they dealt with it.

When he bit, a carer would stay next to his side (and still supervise the other children, but just from a close location to him) for as long as it took (sometimes the whole day) to ensure he didn't do it again.

I don't think you have done the wrong thing - not for the biting itself - although it's horrible your child was so badly bitten, I hope to god my child never did that to anyone else - but for the response you got from daycare.

Yes it's true, biting is commonplace in daycare, especially with non-verbal children, but being so commonplace they should have better controls in place to protect children AND help teach the biters how to express themselves without teeth!!!