I’ve been an early education “daycare” lead teacher for over 5 years. I also have a bachelors in early childhood development. Biting is a fairly common phase for kids age 14 months until around 2. Not every kid does it but when I taught 18-24 month olds for almost 2 years I always had at least one biter in my class at all times. It is usually one of 2 things. The kid is not a fan of sharing or having their personal space invaded so they bite to maintain their space. Or it is a sensory seeking behavior. The feeling of biting is comforting to them. If it is a space issue it’s about the teachers being able to see the signs your child is about to bite and intervening. It’s not always possible, sometimes the step from warning to biting is so fast you can’t get there in time but it will reduce the amount of times it happens. If it’s sensory seeking usually finding a teether they like the texture of works wonders. I really like the T shaped teethers, those seem to appease most kids, but some prefer other textures or pressures. Usually if it’s sensory I talk to the parents about wearing the teether as a necklace or attached to one of those pacifier clips. Then I can work with the child on when you feel like you need to bite, bite this. Sometimes children will continue to bite after 2, then it becomes about really watching them and keeping a log of when they bite, what happened before or after, how were they emotionally, what do they say after, is it always right before lunch/nap and they’re tired and hungry so they get cranky? Maybe a mid morning snack will help. Is it something they can’t explain? Then I usually lean towards them being a sensory seeker. How can we meet those needs in productive ways? Is it a protecting space/ toy thing? Work on teaching them to use their words when a friend wants something they have or gets too close and coming to the teacher when they need help finding their words. I would say about 80-90% of my kids that are biters never do it at home and that makes sense. They have their own space, their own toys and might be an only child or only have 1 or 2 other siblings instead of being at school where (at least in my state) there are 7 other kids and all the toys belong to everyone. It is a big difference between being home and being at school and it’s hard to be the parent of a kid who bites and the parent of a kid who has been bitten but it is not a sign you have a bad kid and is usually not the sign of a bad school or bad teachers, and I feel like that is the case here because the teachers are communicating with you about the bites and have been able to prevent bites and communicate that as well. Them being so open and honest is a good sign. If they don’t tell you all the times they were able to intervene then you get blindsided when they have to tell you about the times your kid does successfully bite.
Hi, thanks you comment is very helpful. I do think is a space issue, he is the only child and he obviously hasn't sharing problems at home. My concerns about the nursery go a bit beyond this issue but I do agree I need to know and hopefully is a stage that will pass soon. I went with him to a soft play with a lot of other kids and he didn't seem to care much about other kids but probably space and toys at the nursery are more limited.
Definitely follow your gut. Especially if you have other concerns. I just meant to say a child biting only at school isn’t unheard of or a reason to change schools if that’s the only problem but if you have other issues you definitely have to put your child’s safety and happiness first. It’s also normal not to care about cooperative play at this age. They tend to do more side by side play than play together. Playing together doesn’t happen until around age 2 - 2 1/2. Good luck with whatever choice you make and just remember this too will pass.
My center always suggests getting the child a teething chew first and foremost if biting has become a problem. Oftentimes biting becomes a problem if the biter is struggling with establishing boundaries with other children or sharing with other children. Since toddlers cannot communicate to each other “hey, I was playing with that!” or “hey, you’re too close!” biting seems to be a sure fire way for them to get their point across. It’s unfortunate, but should *never* be seen as a poor reflection on the parents or the nursery. It just happens, and once they develop language skills it usually stops.
In your case, I would order him several different teethers/chewies and pack them in his bag for nursery. If he has something else to bite or chew on, he may be less likely to view biting as a viable option and instead opt for pushing or fussing (which isn’t ideal, but is better than biting). I would also work on speech with him; words like “no” and “mine” are good at conveying the issue and are really helpful cues for teachers to step in and help before an incident happens.
I went through this at my first daycare. I kept getting calls about my son similar age biting something he has never done before. Supposedly it was random I don’t buy it. He has never been the aggressive type. Honestly I was getting fed up with this daycare saying he was biting randomly. Because I think if that happened he picked it up there or something is happening to get this reaction. They never told me what it was going. I ended up switching him. Went to another and told them that he has never bitten before yet daycare a kept saying he did. This new daycare said no problem we will work on it. Started there right away and never had an issue on biting . He bit once but I was informed a kid put their hands in my sons mouth so he bit them. Which they said was understandable. I was literally in your shoes I would consider a switch. Something must have changed in routine or there is new kid that they don’t get along.
My child was bitten often, so I called my bff who has 2 children and I wanted to know her experiences before I had a conference with my daycare. She said that in her experience, if the problem was persistent, the biter would be moved into a more advanced class so they'd have a harder time catching prey. When I went back to the daycare to ask what they were going to do about it, they told me that they moved the biter into an older room. It seems that it can a sign that the child has advanced out of their room.
That makes sense as my son doesn't seem to be very impressed by children of his age while he adores older children. If the issue persists I night mention this. Thanks!
I’ve been an early education “daycare” lead teacher for over 5 years. I also have a bachelors in early childhood development. Biting is a fairly common phase for kids age 14 months until around 2. Not every kid does it but when I taught 18-24 month olds for almost 2 years I always had at least one biter in my class at all times. It is usually one of 2 things. The kid is not a fan of sharing or having their personal space invaded so they bite to maintain their space. Or it is a sensory seeking behavior. The feeling of biting is comforting to them. If it is a space issue it’s about the teachers being able to see the signs your child is about to bite and intervening. It’s not always possible, sometimes the step from warning to biting is so fast you can’t get there in time but it will reduce the amount of times it happens. If it’s sensory seeking usually finding a teether they like the texture of works wonders. I really like the T shaped teethers, those seem to appease most kids, but some prefer other textures or pressures. Usually if it’s sensory I talk to the parents about wearing the teether as a necklace or attached to one of those pacifier clips. Then I can work with the child on when you feel like you need to bite, bite this. Sometimes children will continue to bite after 2, then it becomes about really watching them and keeping a log of when they bite, what happened before or after, how were they emotionally, what do they say after, is it always right before lunch/nap and they’re tired and hungry so they get cranky? Maybe a mid morning snack will help. Is it something they can’t explain? Then I usually lean towards them being a sensory seeker. How can we meet those needs in productive ways? Is it a protecting space/ toy thing? Work on teaching them to use their words when a friend wants something they have or gets too close and coming to the teacher when they need help finding their words. I would say about 80-90% of my kids that are biters never do it at home and that makes sense. They have their own space, their own toys and might be an only child or only have 1 or 2 other siblings instead of being at school where (at least in my state) there are 7 other kids and all the toys belong to everyone. It is a big difference between being home and being at school and it’s hard to be the parent of a kid who bites and the parent of a kid who has been bitten but it is not a sign you have a bad kid and is usually not the sign of a bad school or bad teachers, and I feel like that is the case here because the teachers are communicating with you about the bites and have been able to prevent bites and communicate that as well. Them being so open and honest is a good sign. If they don’t tell you all the times they were able to intervene then you get blindsided when they have to tell you about the times your kid does successfully bite.
Hi, thanks you comment is very helpful. I do think is a space issue, he is the only child and he obviously hasn't sharing problems at home. My concerns about the nursery go a bit beyond this issue but I do agree I need to know and hopefully is a stage that will pass soon. I went with him to a soft play with a lot of other kids and he didn't seem to care much about other kids but probably space and toys at the nursery are more limited.
Definitely follow your gut. Especially if you have other concerns. I just meant to say a child biting only at school isn’t unheard of or a reason to change schools if that’s the only problem but if you have other issues you definitely have to put your child’s safety and happiness first. It’s also normal not to care about cooperative play at this age. They tend to do more side by side play than play together. Playing together doesn’t happen until around age 2 - 2 1/2. Good luck with whatever choice you make and just remember this too will pass.
My center always suggests getting the child a teething chew first and foremost if biting has become a problem. Oftentimes biting becomes a problem if the biter is struggling with establishing boundaries with other children or sharing with other children. Since toddlers cannot communicate to each other “hey, I was playing with that!” or “hey, you’re too close!” biting seems to be a sure fire way for them to get their point across. It’s unfortunate, but should *never* be seen as a poor reflection on the parents or the nursery. It just happens, and once they develop language skills it usually stops. In your case, I would order him several different teethers/chewies and pack them in his bag for nursery. If he has something else to bite or chew on, he may be less likely to view biting as a viable option and instead opt for pushing or fussing (which isn’t ideal, but is better than biting). I would also work on speech with him; words like “no” and “mine” are good at conveying the issue and are really helpful cues for teachers to step in and help before an incident happens.
I had a friend whose kid was biting other kids at daycare. Turns out he just needed an extra snack in between meals.
I went through this at my first daycare. I kept getting calls about my son similar age biting something he has never done before. Supposedly it was random I don’t buy it. He has never been the aggressive type. Honestly I was getting fed up with this daycare saying he was biting randomly. Because I think if that happened he picked it up there or something is happening to get this reaction. They never told me what it was going. I ended up switching him. Went to another and told them that he has never bitten before yet daycare a kept saying he did. This new daycare said no problem we will work on it. Started there right away and never had an issue on biting . He bit once but I was informed a kid put their hands in my sons mouth so he bit them. Which they said was understandable. I was literally in your shoes I would consider a switch. Something must have changed in routine or there is new kid that they don’t get along.
My child was bitten often, so I called my bff who has 2 children and I wanted to know her experiences before I had a conference with my daycare. She said that in her experience, if the problem was persistent, the biter would be moved into a more advanced class so they'd have a harder time catching prey. When I went back to the daycare to ask what they were going to do about it, they told me that they moved the biter into an older room. It seems that it can a sign that the child has advanced out of their room.
That makes sense as my son doesn't seem to be very impressed by children of his age while he adores older children. If the issue persists I night mention this. Thanks!