XP: Biting and Daycare

Leah&Cole

So I know that biting is pretty much par for the course and that it sucks whether you've got the biter or the bitee, but I'm wondering when enough is enough....

There is a biter in my sons daycare classroom (1-2 yr old room).  From what I can tell from his teacher, he isn't the only one that gets bitten, but certainly gets the most of it.  Obviously my kid isn't perfect.... from what I hear from the teacher and see on the incident reports, the biting typically happens when they are fighting over a toy or something, so he does have a role in it.  His teacher also said today that it she thinks it happens when she has to go do something - example in another part of the room getting snacks or lunch ready.

Up until this week, he had been getting some bites (not super frequent - once a week or less), but today was the third day in a row that he got bit.  That seems like a bit much to me... and his classroom teacher told me that she had pushed the issue with the director and assistant director today and that they were going to try to work something out.

I'm going to make a time to meet with the director tomorrow (she wasn't there when I picked up today).  What are reasonable expectations?

It's worth noting that we love the daycare... teachers and directors are great, DS is always happy when we drop him off, and is happily playing when we pick him up.

Tikat

I would ask how this is dealt with...DD munched on a friend once at about 15 mths old...my provider was firm with her and told her that biting was not nice - we reinforced while still at DCP and it never happened again.

This obviously happens - and we had a bite taken out of her as well at some point...but I think that it's all in how it's dealt with. 

Mrs.McLovin

So how many times has your child been bitten and over how long?

FriskyPanda

My kid was the biter and I had to tell the teachers to stop her before it happens- like when she was fighting for a toy. It seems like common sense, but I had to spell it out. Three days in a row seems excessive now, but I'm pretty sure DD had weeks like that too.

Genevieve14

DD has been bitten at day care twice now over the course of 3 weeks.  I wasn't told who the offender was, but I was thinking if it happened one more time, I'd have a more serious talk with the the providers (DD is in a big center).  With the frequency you're talking about, I'd definitely ask for more of an action plan.

mimilareaux

DD was bitten a few times at DC in the past few months... They have relocated the biter to another room and the issue completely resolved.

I would definitely let them know that 3 days in a row is a bit excessive, and they should be more than willing to make compromise somehow.

ral1985

MY DD was the biter as well... There was a time when she got pretty bad and it felt like I would go to pick her up with a ton of anxiety hoping she hadn't bitten anybody that day... They teachers and I came up with a plan with different types of consequences until we found something that worked... I had to talk with DD a lot about how the only things that should be going into her mouth is food, she eventually out grew it.