The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning

Vanderbilt University
vanderbilt.edu/csefel
Portions adapted with permission from ZERO TO THREE. (n.d.). Chew on This:
Responding to Toddlers Who Bite. Retrieved June 5, 2008, from
http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageSer ver?pagename=ter_key_social_biting&
JSevSessionIdr009=4rzxepxog4.app2a

Responding to Your Childs Bite

After reading the article I think it is well written, and could give some
good advice to a parent or teacher who has a problem with biting. Biting is a
developmental behavior that can be curbed. Never did the observation as a
parent, but my kids only bite each other. However I did the overreacting, and
then started to address the victim more, and that did seem to help. My kids
biting was all related to the problem of not being able to express their anger
to the other one. I wish I would have had this article for reference then. So if
there is a problem with a biting child I would definitely have this article to
hand out in a parent meeting as a coping mechanism.
Biting can be very harmful for everyone involved. Teachers can get
frustrated, parents get upset with the situation as a whole, and a child gets
hurt. This article gives very good suggestions of why, prevention, what not to
do, and when to seek professional help. Reasoning for the why can be
problems communicating, cause and effect, not knowing how to play with
others, exploration & learning, oral stimulations, teething, coping with
misunderstood feelings, and they see the reactions/attention someone else
gets from biting. While biting is a typical behavior for young children, that
doesnt mean it is acceptable. Biting can cause discomfort, angry feelings,
and on occasion serious injury. Not only can it cause the victim hurt/mad
feelings, the effect of biting could cause others to not want to play with the
child who is biting. Isolation from others can cause problems with childrens
social emotional development. Try to prevent biting from occurring. If you
dont prevent it follow these steps. Quickly yet calmly remove your child
from the person he has bitten. Calmly (e.g. without yelling or scolding),
clearly, and firmly say, Stop. No biting. Biting hurts, focus most of your
attention on the child who was bitten, acknowledge your childs feelings, and
when your child is calm (not in the heat of the moment), teach him/her other
ways to express his/her needs and desires. The easiest way to do that is by
observation. Having learned about ABC this is one way to apply this
observation technique. Before incident, during incident, and after incident.
Once you understand why and when your child is likely to bite, you can try
to change situations in order to prevent it. Talking with parents/caregivers

and getting their input and suggestions on how they deal with the biting can
be beneficial to you to. If all interventions seem to not help perhaps you
should consult with a professional.