Son being targeted

[Playdoh45]

My son is 15months old and goes to a wonderful nursery where he is otherwise thriving. The teachers are all absolutely lovely and I want to be clear, I know this is not their fault so this is where I am stuck.

There is a serial biter at the daycare , he is now targeting my son. They have obviously stopped lots of bites but he has been bitten 3 times recently. Breaking skin.
Most recently my son was playing alone with blocks and apparently the boy just came up and bite him randomly. Last time they were playing together and my son was walking infront of him too slowly and he bite him very deeply on the shoulder.

The nursery say they are working with the parents and monitoring him closely however..... he has been biting for many months with no improvement.

They can't watch him every minute of the day surely so when do we escalate this?

Biting is of course normal toddler behaviour but it's the same child going for my son (for whatever reason?) .

Anyone have any experience of this and can advise?

It is not snatching toys away or low level pushing. Biting is really painful and a nasty thing to happen. This kid and I say kid as he nearly 3 not 18 months needs to be removed from the group . Maybe to a room with older kids or removed all together. A childminder one on one would be better Why should one child's behaviour be allowed to the detriment of the other children ? It will be hard enough to avoid disruptive children in mainstream education but surely shouldn't occur at nursery .They do not have to accept this child and there are waiting lists everywhere. I would be fuming if my child was bitten repeatedly. It is just not good enough of the nursery to say they are managing it as they obviously aren't doing a great job . It is unacceptable and if nursery refuse to do more then I would remove my child however reluctantly.

You pretty much prove my point.

You had an actual point in your grandiose musings?

You have still not said what " action " you would take?

I haven't read the full thread, but I would give them one last chance.
My two year old was bitten twice in a couple of weeks recently. The biter was biting others but mine was the only one to be bitten twice. It hasn't happened again, and the nursery staff became a lot more alert to it happening - it can happen super quick!

It's normal policy to not tell the parents who the biter is.

I was going to escalate it to be more concerned if it happened again but thankfully never did

I would put an official written complaint it. They need to get rid of this serial biter!

There was similar problem at my daughter’s nursery. A few biters but one prolific and a couple of kids were the main targets.

Our nursery managed it really well by basically guarding the prolific biter so there was always an eye on him until he got to age where it lessened and triggers more obvious. It takes a while but they grow out of it (usually around 2.5 when the speaking starts). In meantime it isn’t acceptable is that your son is being bitten. That’s on the nursery and they need to ensure it doesn’t happen.

My DM told me when I was a toddler one of my peers was always trying and sometimes succeeding in biting me. Fed up of it and without any encouragement I bit her back and she never did it again. I'm not saying the OP's child should be encouraged to bite back but I can understand the frustration about a biter.

I highly doubt parents would be going round discussing it, there's no way that any nursery goes 3 years without a single biting incident.

OP you mentioned a 1:5 ratio. This is NOT the case. Your child is under 2 and so is in a 1:3 ratio.

Whether there are older children present or not, the ratio for 1 year olds is 1:3. If the biting child happens to be older then it may be a mixed ratio room but that doesn't take away staff from your child. Ratios are part of the statutory guidance. A child can be brought down into a lower ratio but never raised up.

If you suspect the room is out of ratio then please raise it with the manager. Under 2 legally must be 1:3. If there is one two year old present then that child can fit into the 1:3 ratio, but the 1:5 ratio isn't relevant.

5 two year olds and 1 one year old: two staff: 1 for the two year olds, 1 for the one year old
5 two year olds and 4 one year olds: three staff, 1 for the twos, 2 for the ones
6 two year olds, 1 one year old: two staff, 1 for 5 twos, 1 staff for one two year old and the one year old

I work in early years and ratios are an ongoing challenge.

They need to follow the biter more closely. He needs to not be out of arms reach of an adult, it's not fair to the other children.

Sorry. I am not in the Uk. I didn't think this was relevant at first (trying to not make op too long)

I did get the ratios wrong and they have assured me this morning it is 1:4 - which is the legal requirement here and they actually often have additional team members in.

They understand my upset and we are not the only parents unhappy. I am confident they are going to monitor more closely now and the next step is a meeting.

Would you be happy to make suggestions to the nursery?

My DD is autistic and still sometimes bites me when she's excited (nearly a teen). When biting was regular, we used a Chewbuddy. She only bit when she was excited so it was easier to anticipate. She wore she Chewbuddy round her neck pretty much 24/7 so whenever we noticed her flapping and getting excited we'd shove the Chewbuddy in her mouth to protect our arms.

Luckily (I guess) she only seemed to bite trusted adults, not her peers.

https://www.sensorydirect.com/chewbuddy-sensory-chew?ps=MTU5PTM5OCYxNDE9NTU1JjE0ND0zMzQ=&srsltid=AfmBOop9yUqSf5-bqpdql4q9r_fZEVJ3atztfFIR2abUGcQEW1q4kUAGnJY#159=398&141=555&144=334