I really don’t know what to do about this and I need some Mumsnet wisdom. My DS goes to nursery three days a week. He’s just turned three. Over the last month he’s come home a couple of times having been bitten by another child. The nursery don’t tell us who it is but he always tells me in the car on the way home. Today when I went to pick him up he has two big bites one on each hand. One is quite bad and has broken through the skin. The staff were quite upset about it and I finally got a bit more information. She explained that in the preschool room there are a few children with “additional needs” (I’ll admit I’m not entirely sure what this means which is why I’ve given you the exact words). One of the little boys plays with my DS and when he goes to pick up a toy this other child bites him. She said it’s because he doesn’t understand and only understands if someone says they are going to pick up the toy. Now the problem is that DS is three and doesn’t understand and apparently a lot of the other children don’t either because I’ve heard some others grumbling about children getting bitten. It seems to be a daily occurrence.
My problem is I have no idea how to approach this. I obviously don’t want my DS getting hurt and this is quite distressing for us all but I understand that you can’t exclude children from doing things because they have extra needs. What would you do?
The added problem is that DS has started to be a bit naughty at home and when we tell him that what he is doing is naughty he just keeps telling us “but ... does it”. I’ve tried to explain that it is still naughty behaviour but he doesn’t understand.
He is our first child and I totally feel like I’m failing at a parent here. What do I do? I feel like the naughty behaviour should lessen with time as he starts to understand that he isn’t allowed to do it but the getting bitten just makes me feel like I am completely letting him down