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Original poster

Little boy keeps getting bitten at nursery

24 replies

Nurse45 · 27/08/2021 12:27

My little boy 18mo has been bitten 5 times in the last 7 weeks at nursery (2 of those weeks he has been off so its really 5). He only goes for 2 half days a week and once was on his face!! At this point I don't know what to do with his nursery. I understand some children go through a biting phase but this does seem excessive and these bites are leaving large bruises and marks. I'm thinking about moving him? I really don't want him thinking its ok to bite others and learning this behaviour and I'm worried about him associating nursery with being bitten.

OP posts:
Beamur · 27/08/2021 12:30

Ouch.
I think the nursery need to step up their supervision. Is it the same child doing the biting?
DD got chomped a couple of times by the same child. The biter did grow out of it, but the nursery were pretty vigilant and sometimes put them in a walker for a little while which meant they couldn't get close enough to the other children to bite them.

Fernando072020 · 27/08/2021 12:30

Have you spoken to the nursery about it? What did they say?

Yanbu to be bothered by this, essentially he has been bitten 5 times over 5 days and that's ridiculous...

Amz6219 · 27/08/2021 12:32

Makes me so sad, when my son was bitten at nursery I cried! On his face is awful :(

The member of staff that told me was upset too, she was so apologetic and said she literally turned around for a second when it happened and obviously she nipped it in the bud ASAP and advised the parent of the child that had done it. It never happened again.

My concern here would be that they aren't paying enough attention, and haven't addressed it / kept a close eye since the first time.. ?

Sexnotgender · 27/08/2021 12:34

The nursery need to put steps in place to prevent this.

Our DS was bitten on the face earlier this year and was badly scratched on the face too.

They put steps in place and we’ve had no more incidents. If it had continued I’d have found somewhere else for him.

Original poster
Nurse45 · 27/08/2021 12:53

@Beamur

Ouch. I think the nursery need to step up their supervision. Is it the same child doing the biting? DD got chomped a couple of times by the same child. The biter did grow out of it, but the nursery were pretty vigilant and sometimes put them in a walker for a little while which meant they couldn't get close enough to the other children to bite them.
Apparently it isn't always the same child. The nursery keep saying it's just a 'phase' they go through this age and they are sorry about it. It's meant to be ofsted outstanding!!
OP posts:
Tal45 · 27/08/2021 13:04

Ask them what they are going to put in place to keep him safe because otherwise you are going to have to take him out. You need to set up a meeting with the manager though now. It might be a phase some kids go through but my ds managed 2 years of nursery without ever being bitten - 5 times in as many weeks is starting to get ridiculous.

TheChippendenSpook · 27/08/2021 13:06

Outsatanding or not, you're going to get children who bite or are bitten at nursery.

If the staff are anything like I was, they'll be mortified that your child has been bitten. It isn't always the case of staff not paying attention as it can happen so quickly.

Original poster
Nurse45 · 27/08/2021 13:06

@Tal45

Ask them what they are going to put in place to keep him safe because otherwise you are going to have to take him out. You need to set up a meeting with the manager though now. It might be a phase some kids go through but my ds managed 2 years of nursery without ever being bitten - 5 times in as many weeks is starting to get ridiculous.
I the area manager ringing me back this afternoon. Along with a meeting next friday. Very difficult to know what to do!
OP posts:
FrankButchersDickieBow · 27/08/2021 13:07

My dd was a biter and a bitee in nursery.

This was years ago, but when a child was a biter, they were shadowed by an employee who's jib was to catch it before it happened so no child should have been bitten more than once.

I would be fuming if my child had been bitten that many times!

cultkid · 27/08/2021 13:08

I would go fucking ape

Is it the same child

Take him out or the other kid needs supervision

Disgraceful that he has had 7 chances to be bitten

Is nobody watching this kid???

cultkid · 27/08/2021 13:10

Report to Ofsted

Ive had two children in nursery neither have ever been bitten

They are not supervising properly it's not a phase or a stage it's totally and utterly negligent in their part if a child or children are repeatedly triggered to the point of biting

I also wonder about your child's social position in the class are they the victim? Take him out now and refer to Ofsted

QueenBee52 · 27/08/2021 13:11

@cultkid

Report to Ofsted

Ive had two children in nursery neither have ever been bitten

They are not supervising properly it's not a phase or a stage it's totally and utterly negligent in their part if a child or children are repeatedly triggered to the point of biting

I also wonder about your child's social position in the class are they the victim? Take him out now and refer to Ofsted

I agree..

its not remotely acceptable..

somebody somewhere is not doing their job 🌸

Wilmaa · 27/08/2021 13:12

Some of them do go through a phase of it of course and I get it takes a second to turn around and it would happen but honestly I would be livid for how often it's happened to your DS.
A one off you can get over but every week basically is not on.
I would want to know;
How many different kids are doing it
Are they in the same group/bubble
Can they split the bubble up so there's no biters in his bubble
Are parents aware to help their children through this phase
What can be done to prevent this happening again
I would threaten to pull him out if it happens again

You need to let them know how angry you are and you aren't going to tolerate it anymore, step the gears up and let them know how ridiculous it is how it's happened this many times

BrilloPaddy · 27/08/2021 13:13

That's a massive red flag for kids that aren't being watched.

Find another nursery, and report them for it.

DD used to work in a nursery and often had to 1-1 on kids that were biters or pinchers. It was dealt with very effectively.

girlmom21 · 27/08/2021 13:17

My child bit another child once (we were mortified) and has been bitten by another child once. That's it. The nursery are shit hot on it.

Regular biting would really concern me and I'd be raising a complaint.

starfishmummy · 27/08/2021 14:14

Yanbu at all. I would be having a conversation with the nursery about keeping him safe.

I know some kids can be biters but this is just too much.

Classica · 27/08/2021 14:16

Poor little thing. That is way too much and I'd be furious. Sounds like some slack monitoring going on there.

Original poster
Nurse45 · 27/08/2021 14:20

Nursery manager has rang and 3/5 times he has been bitten by the same child. They are apparently going to speak to the parents properly and give him a 1-2-1 as much as possible. They are also apparently getting more teething toys for the other child.

OP posts:
cultkid · 27/08/2021 14:30

No remove him and take them to court if they try and take any extra money from you

Not acceptable

FindingMeno · 27/08/2021 14:36

I would be thinking about a formal complaint or swapping nurseries.
My dc's didn't go through a biting stage, nor have they ever been bitten.
This is not acceptable.

Yummymummy2020 · 27/08/2021 14:37

Yeah this is far too much, I worked in a nursery and to be honest one bite was a big deal, it shouldn’t be constant if they are supervising properly, one bite is a red flag to the staff that they need to be more careful so I don’t think this is acceptable at all.

Lonecatwithkitten · 27/08/2021 14:56

My DD was a biter and a bitee at nursery. Her nursery looked for triggers there are common ones tiredness, hunger, frustration etc. They then avoided those triggers.

They also found that frustration was a common trigger in the 15-22 month old age group and introduced baby signing to help relieve the frustration.
I have to say as a parent I felt so much worse when she bit than when she was bitten.

YouMeandtheSpew · 27/08/2021 15:01

Biting does happen in this age group and it’s a risk of using nursery. But 5 times in the same number of weeks is completely unacceptable.

QueenBee52 · 27/08/2021 15:36

OP you need to think about your own Child here..

As others have said, I would also remove him.. Flowers

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