June 2010 News from Little Green Tree House

Biting Truly is a Common Behavior

Erin Lyon - Director of Education

Even in the best child care programs, periodic outbreaks of biting occur among infants and toddlers, and sometimes even among preschoolers. This is an unavoidable consequence of grouping young children together. When it happens, it's pretty scary, very frustrating, and very stressful for children, parents, and teachers. However unfortunate, biting is a natural occurrence among children under age three, and is not something to blame on children, their parents, or their teachers. There are also no quick and easy solutions.

Incidences of biting are unavoidable in group child care. Group living is hard: dealing with others constantly around, sharing attention and toys, and too much and too little stimulation are all difficult for children. Once begun, biting is hard to quickly get rid of.

Why Do Children Bite?

Children bite for a variety of reasons: simple sensory exploration, panic, crowding, seeking to be noticed, or intense desire for a toy. Children in child care need and want attention from adults. Sometimes attention isn't immediately available. A bite is powerful and primal, quick and effective, and it usually prompts immediate and dramatic reactions. Repeated biting becomes a pattern of learned behavior that is often hard to extinguish because it achieves results: the desired toy, excitement, or attention.

Biting is a stage some children go through and is a problem for a group. Yet at the same time, for children who bite it is a natural phenomenon with virtually no lasting developmental significance. Biting derives its significance from the group care setting. It sounds obvious, but if children who bite were not around others very much, they probably wouldn't bite, because neither the causes nor the opportunity would be present. Biting is not something to blame on children, their parents, or their teachers. Children who bite are not on a direct path to becoming discipline problems or bad people. Yes, biting is an antisocial act, but it is the act of individuals not yet equipped to be fully social and just beginning life as citizens. When biting breaks out, Little Green Tree House immediately takes action, not to blame the biters but to change the environment and help children change their behavior.

Common Causes of Biting

Teething. When teeth are coming through, applying pressure to the gums is comforting, and infants will use anything available to chew on. Obviously, if teething is a likely cause, then a teething ring or an object to chew on will lessen a child's need to bite other people.
Excitement and over-stimulation. When some young children get very excited, even happily so, they may behave in an out-of-control fashion.
Impulsiveness and lack of self-control. Infants sometimes bite because there is something there to bite. This biting is not intentional in any way; it's simply a wayof exploring the world.
Making an impact. Young children like to make things happen, and the reaction after they bite someone is usually pretty dramatic.
Frustration. Too many challenges, too many demands, too many wants, too little space, and too many obstacles may lead children to bite, especially before they have the capability to express frustration through language.

Ways to Help:

Let children know in words and manner that biting is unacceptable. An adult's sternest manner and words should be reserved for acts such as biting.
Remove biting children from the situation, and focus caring attention on the bitten victims.
Examine the context in which the biting is occurring and look for patterns. Was the space too crowded? Were there too few toys? Was there too little to do or too much waiting? Was the child who bit getting the attention and care he deserved at times other than when he was biting?
Change the environment, routines, or activities if necessary.
Work with children who bite to resolve conflicts and frustrations in more appropriate manners, including using words, if they are capable of them.
Observe children who are short-term, chronic biters to get an idea of why and when they are likely to bite. For example, as previously mentioned, some children may bite not when they are angry or frustrated but when they are very excited.

Key Points to Remember:

Biting is a normal behavior or phase for most young children, which is the most important thing most parents need to know.
Younger children often bite when they are teething, overtired, jealous, frustrated, mad, etc., or to simply see what happens when they bite, which is especially true of infants and younger toddlers, who may just be experimenting and exploring their world.
You should be careful not to overreact when your child bites, which can reinforce the biting because your child gets excited about the reaction it brings about.
Don't do anything like bite your child back, physically punish your child, or put anything in her mouth when she bites.