Childcare posted ds biting to all parents

[Nov191919]

Hi

My sons going through a tricky time, not sleeping etc and v cranky as a result. He's 3 1/2 and yesterday bit another kid at childcare. The childcare posted the incident report to the general group with my sons name.

Any advice about what to do here?

Complain to the manager - they should not give out the child's name.

Tell your child not to bite?

Human bites require a visit to A&E. Parents need to be aware of the risks.

They did the right thing.

Mention GDPR to them....they need to report as a data handler.

At 3 1/2 he is more than old enough to know that biting is absolutely unacceptable. What are you doing to sort his behavioural issues out?

Just to point out this post is not about my sons behaviour- obviously unacceptable and we as a family are working through it

Not from a child, get a grip.

None of this is a big deal.

I've signed countless incident forms for my DC being bitten and the odd one for them biting too. It's just one of those things at this age. It's only a problem if they're doing it repeatedly.

Likewise, they shouldn't have posted it to the group but we've all cc'ed the wrong person in an email once or twice. Human error. Presumably they took it down and apologised? No one will be judging your son.

Honestly! You’ll be glad your child wasn’t a biter then as you would be horrified if you were named and shamed. biting happens for many reasons eg frustration, temper, nonstop being able to communicate /verbalise noughts and feelings.

The only form that should have your child’s name on it is the form that you sign to say you know there was a biting incident. The other child’s form should not have your childs name on it and nothing should be posted online with your child’s name on it.

that is a huge breech of personal data!(GDPR) this needs reported.

No matter the age, mouths and teeth contain bacteria that should not be introduced to the skin of another child - it is an infection risk. Get a grip to you.

Thats such a clever idea!

Genius

I work in a children’s home. Any bites go straight to A&E. No need for me to get a grip.

I think it’s fair that the parents get a heads up about a biter. They can remind their children to keep clear.

I work in Reception and we absolutely wouldn’t name the child that had bitten. Of course, nothing stopping the bitee naming the biter.

Nursery aged children biting leave a slight red mark at worst, they don't tend to break the skin.

it absolutely IS a big deal. It’s a GDPR breach. Op find out their policies and procedures and report a breach.

Yes but it's not a GDPR breach that will be punished severely or anything. It's equivalent to replying all instead of replying. If they changed the post so the other parents can no longer access it they won't be required to do anything further.

It's unfortunate but these are the people that look after your DC every day, this isn't worth a row unless they're refusing to acknowledge the error.

I think a nursery aged child being bitten by another child is probably covered by their pre school vaccinations, that being the key point. Well I think so any way. We have definitely had nursery age children that have broken the skin.

Side point, when DD was a little over two she went through a biting phase for about two weeks, she did it every day. We tried all sorts of things, but then after two weeks she got chicken pox, and when she went back she never bit again.
We think that she was feeling really under the weather as it was coming on but at two she couldn't explain that.
I know your little one is a bit older but you mention the crankiness and not sleeping and I wondered if he could also be feeling poorly / struggling?
FWIW many children go through a biting phase. It isn't pleasant for them or for us (I was mortified and didn't want to answer the phone when nursery rang every day!) but a good nursery will work with you to find a solution. There is no chance they would have named DD to the parents of the children she bit (and never named the children who bit her to me) and to the poster saying they should know so they can tell their child to avoid her - a good nursery wouldn't allow that either. They would work with your child and their peers to prevent biting but not by social exclusion!
I don't know how to tackle the posting but wanted to share some 'good outcome' biting stories and let you know that many of us have been there x

It’s a GDPR breach and even if it’s not considered a serious one I’d be looking for an acknowledgment that they made an error here. Biting has a stigma and sending this to the whole group would be very embarrassing to any parent who actually cares and who’s also trying their best to manage it. We’ve been told a few times of DD suffering a bite/bad scratch from another child but the nursery have always been discrete enough not to name names. Even if it was a repeat offence with the same children involved it would be a private discussion, not stuck on a glorified group chat!

You work in a children's home but know nothing about small children it seems. I'm guessing you work mostly with teens?

It's a completely different kettle of fish. A 3 year old biting because they're going through a bad patch is completely within the realms of normal. It's what you do about it that matters. A parent laughing, obviously unacceptable and feckless. A parent trying to address thecause and work with the nursery (like the OP mentioned she is), correct response. Telling a 3 year old that is struggling to 'just stop' is hardly going to work, is it.

I've worked in two schools with a high percentage of LAC. It's incredibly rare for any child of any age to 'just stop' but as there is usually accompanying trauma from LAC, it's even more rare. Surely you know that if you do actually work with children?

Our nursery never gave out the name of the biter! Even when dtd1 bit dtd2 I got a form for dtd2 saying she’d been bitten by another dc then I got a second form with dtd1’s behaviour report where I didn’t need to be Sherlock to figure out one bit the other (actually slightly reassuring she only ever would bite her sister). I don’t think villainising a dc is helpful.

I also work in this environment. I take it you’ve never actually been to A&E with a bite yourself? I know staff who have sat there for 8 hours to be cleaned up and sent on their way. I didn’t bother as they sent likely to have hiv or hep c etc

Oh god, please don’t bring dc in to A&E every time another toddler bites them 🤦🏻‍♀️ ffs.

I'm a childminder. You absolutely do not name a child in this way it's not allowed

One of my colleagues was bitten by a 5 year old recently and it did break the skin. They were given a tetanus jab and ABs.

They didn't give out the name on purpose though! It's not like they texted the parents WhatsApp group saying "hey folks, James is a biter, beware!". Presumably they use an app to communicate with parents and once they'd filled in the incident form hit "Share - Preschool" instead of "Share - James".

Human error that shouldn't happen but realistically it does.