Almost 14 Month Old Biting at School

I am late in responding to this...but been on vacation. It is little publicized fact that biting is a often seen problem in daycare/preschool situations. It is most often due to the stress of being around other kids ...even well-behaved and well monitored ones. It is just not the same as being at home with mom and dad. Work with the staff to see what can be done in a gentle and positive manner.
Any different foods being offered there?? Chemicals in comon kids fods can trigger behavior issues (dyes additives...not just sugar) A posibility.
As kids get older and can communicate verbally more...things like this get better. You did not say how old your little girl was...can she talk really well yet? If not...this may get better on it's own.
Good luck!

Lots of times I think young kids bite because they are teething. Just keep reiterating that biting hurts and not to do it. Eventually she will get it. Also, try giving her things she can bite on and explain to her that she can bite on (what ever you give her) but not people.

Good luck.

:)

I agree with Christy R. Look for the cause, and then try to alleviate the cause. In addition, you can support the people at daycare by talking about biting with your daughter. Yes, I know she probably doesn't talk much, but she understands you. Tell her that biting hurts people, and we don't bite people. We only bite our food. Talk about it multiple times each day to help her remember. There are also story books about biting that you could read to her (if she will sit through them).

While biting is normal for kids at this age, it's very distressing for everyone involved. I found a link to a decent article on kids biting in child care. The most important thing is to try to figure out why she's biting so the staff can intervene appropriately. What time of day? What happened right before? Sometimes kids bite when they are hungry or overtired. I had a little boy in my class once who bit when he wanted to play with another child but didn't know how to enter the play - he was frustrated, but it was a very specific frustration that took a while for us to figure out. When you figure out why it is happening, you can put safeguards into place to prevent the behavior. If it happens at a certain time of day because she is over tired, if the teachers separate her from the other kids around that time and give her some down time that could solve the problem. If she's hungry and it's not lunch or snack time, maybe they can keep some crackers on hand.

One little girl that I knew liked having a cold, wet paper towel to suck on to help her remember not to bite. For her, biting had more to do with the sensory input and the paper towel helped her tremendously. If the child care program has access to the book "Prime Times" by Greenman and Stonehouse, there is a lot of helpful information for programs, including a chart for tracking when biting occurs.

It is a phase and with loving guidance, it will pass. It sounds like you and the program are already on the right track to helping your daughter through this stage. Good luck!

Article - http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/1106_biti...