Biting at nursery

[ticklebug74]

Need some advice on this one. My son (17 months) has been bitten 5 times in 3 weeks at nursery (he only goes two mornings a week) and I am not sure what to do.

I do not make a fuss at nursery when I collect him, although I have asked what they are doing and all they say is that they are monitoring it. I have bumped into another mum whose baby was bitten 3 times in one day!

I completely acknowledge that biting is a normal part of toddlers behaviour but am not sure that makes it any more acceptable??

So does my son continue to be bitten at the expense of people not considering this a huge deal and that toddlers just grow out of it?

I am struggling with my feelings of horror for my little boy and wanting to protect him.

How much biting is too much?

And any advice on what I should do or can encourage the nursery to do as I really don't feel they are doing enough.

Ta

I'm sure they are taking it seriously, but apart from having someone shadowing the biters all the time, it's really hard to do anything about an older baby/young toddler biting.

18 months ish is a really classic time for biting, especially boys apparently, as they get very frustrated at not being able to communicate their wants clearly enough.

DS was a biter - nursery identified hotspots, used tactics to defuse those (like moving his chair away from others at lunch, and giving him space when queueing), and we used sign to emphasise the NO, that hurts, x is SAD. He stopped doing it after a couple of months

Thank you, I am trying to be calm and relaxed about it but it is so hard when your little one comes home covered in bite marks. Will just try and ride it out for a bit longer and hope for the best.

My DD was bitten and a biter at nursery. The nursery had a written biting policy that detailed how both the biter and the bitten should be treated. Our nursery had accident forms that the parents of the biter and the bitten children's parents had to sign at the end of the day the other child's name was not mentioned on the form, but the treatment given including kisses and cuddles was listed.
I don't see any harm in asking the nursery for a copy of their biting policy so that you can understand what happens.

ticklebug - I could have written your post. Poor DC has been bitten 3 times in his last 4 sessions. I don't want to send him there anymore and have lost confidence (he's only been there a month but was in previous nursery for 14 months and never bitten).

Biting is normal at this age. I am also the mother of biters as well as children who have been bitten. However, I think it sounds like he is bitten A LOT. Its impossible to avoid all biting, but the children should be monitored more closely I think. Its horrible if it gets to the point when your child doesn't feel safe in nursery.

It seems they are moving the biter up to the next room so my little boy will be (hopefully) bite free for the next 4-5 months when he then too moves up to the next room - fingers crossed the biter has grown out of it by then and that my litte one does not become a biter himself

If you have any further problems you should ask for a meeting with the nursery manager, and ask what they are doing to deal with this. They should be documenting things and should be able to tell you how they plan to deal with the biter. obviously they can't watch them all individually, but this was a problem with one child at my son's nursery and the staff dealt with it well.

I'm sorry to hear that your DS is being bitten.

My DD went through a biting phase that seemed to last forever. Can I assure you that the mother of the child (if it is just one child) doing the biting feels 1000x worse than you do

Nursery shadowed my DD very carefully but one time they were all sitting quietly at a table and she just lunged at another child It was so quick nobody could have done anything. She did grow out of it eventually.

The day she came home with a bitemark from another child I could have jumped for joy!

As a nursery owner, bitting doesnt happen often. However if a child is going to bite it will be within teething age only.
The nursery needs to give the bitter something to bite on and teach the child to bite a soft object and never a child. They should come out of it very quickly.
Do remember that comunication is very minimal at this age and if they are not understood a child will hit or bite to get rid of the child.
Good staff should be observing this behaviour and controlling this. Then again without ovbserving a situation its very difficult to judge. Is the bitter unstable at the moment, is there problems which is making him angry? Is the child suffering from sore gums?
Remember a child is never naturally naughty, they are trying to tell us something and that is the jobe of good staff to find the problem xxx