Explanations, policies and procedures regarding biting in the child care center.

Children biting other children is one of the most common and most difficult behaviors in group child
care. It can occur without warning, is difficult to defend against, and provokes strong emotional responses in the biter, the victim, the parents, and the caregivers involved.

For many toddlers, the biting stage, is just a passing problem. Toddlers try it out as a way to get what
they want from another toddler. They are in the process of learning what is socially acceptable and what is not. They discover that biting is a sure-fire way to cause the other child to drop what they are holding so the biter can pick it up. However, they experience the disapproval of the adults nearby and eventually learn other ways of gaining possession of objects or expressing difficult feelings.

For other children, biting is a persistent and chronic problem. They may bite for a variety of reasons:
teething, frustration, boredom, inadequate language skills, stress or change in the environment, feeling threatened, or to feel a sense of power.

No matter what the cause, biting in a group situation causes strong feelings in all involved. It does
help, however, to be aware of the potential problem before it happens, and to form a plan of action if it does occur. The staff of the Center, after consulting child care experts and manuals, has developed the following plan of action to be used if and when biting occurs in any of our rooms.

When a child is bitten:

For the biter:
1. The biter is immediately removed with no emotion, using words such as “biting is not okay - it
hurts.” Avoid any immediate response that reinforces the biting or calls attention to the biter.
The caring attention is focused on the victim.
2. The biter is not allowed to return to the play and is talked to on a level that the child can
understand. “I can see that you want that truck, but I can’t let you hurt him. We don’t put our
teeth on people.”
3. Redirect the child to other play.
4. Write an accident report and notify the parents of the biter.

For the victim:
1. Separate the victim from the biter.
2. Comfort the child.
3. Administer first aid.
4. Write an accident report and notify parents of the victim (in writing).