Aussie Childcare Network Forum

Hi Everyone,

I am currently the group leader in the toddlers room and for the last six months i have had a serial biter in my care - it's such a problem that we have had children leave because of it. while we have had many meetings with the childs parent researched to the max for differnt stratergies and tried are are still trying them my director has said that i need to be within arms length at all times with this child even when i am on my own with 4 other children (and have to prepare food, change nappies, maintain the cleaning of the room etc) which is most of the time as there are not enough children to warrent an assistant. this has worked for the last couple of months when he has been in my care he has not biten but it is beyond stressful - i feel guilty everyday that the other children in my care are not geting the attention they deserve beacuse i have to cut short my interactions (art,1 on 1 time, activities etc) when this child decides he wants to go to the other side of the room and play it's just not fair. when i have spoken to my director about this she pretty much says too bad it needs to be done. my question is is there anything that do about this? i feel that if i am told to be by this child side at all times that i should have another staff member in the room legally but i don't know how to go about finding out my rights etc any advice would be appreciated.

I do not the legalities of such a thing since I think teacher:student ratio wise you are ok so and extra person in the room is not for ratios sake but more for ease.

I think serial biters need to be handled with more discipline, I know when I was in the Middle East some nurserys etc would try to sort out the issue but if the child bit more than 4 times the parents had to remove the child as it was a constant danger to other children and the teacher cannot do what u do...keep the child with them at all times, it is unfair to other children as well

Biting is a big sign of stress in a child, you & the director need to meet the parents and find out what is causing the child's stress which is in turn resulting in this behaviour
Until you find the cause of the problem just keeping the child at arms length will do nothing as the behaviour will not just "go away" ... the minute the child is triggered he will bite ... you cannot watch him 24/7

Is there any change in the classroom? at home? parents having problems? new baby in house? child being left with other people recently? anything.
U will really have to be detective and find the root of the problem.

The one biter I have had was because the dad travelled a lot and the mum could not handle his tantrums and he never got time with the dad so the result was him biting to get attention.
Once the dad spent quality time with the child on a regular basis the biting slowly subsided as he was getting the attention he so needed

I hope u can sort the issue out as biters are a horrible problem to deal with because they can cause so much pain and inflict wounds on other children...& u!!

thanks for the info fefe76 keeping him within arms length is not the only action we are taking with this - it would take too long for me to list all the stratergies we have trialed i have a book dedicated to what we have tried what we are going to try what has triggered him (if anything) etc we have had meetings with our head office and other professionals researched this thouroughly and it is a work in progress. i just wanted to know what my rights were in the sense of my director telling me that i have to do this (be with him at all times) and if i don't do this there will be consequences.

Hi Ellie,

I know all too well the situation you're dealing with... being a toddler group leader myself this is one of the many challenges we need to address while working with this age group. Like you, I've also had my fair share of biters. Typically the reason most toddlers bite is because they simply can't express themselves (like telling another child to stop if they don't like what they are doing or wanting a specific toy) or like FeFe suggested there have been major changes in the child's life.

When biting occurs in my room, I explain to the biter how much it hurts and how it is not OK to bite!! I completely understand how this can be difficult especially for the little ones who may find it difficult to understand. What your director suggested about being with the child the entire time is another strategy to help you deal with the biting child. It's called "shadowing". This basically means like you said

that i need to be within arms length at all times.

In my opinion if you are "shadowing" a child there should be another member of staff within the room because you can't do everything by yourself! Although the staff:child ratio is legally fine...

Also when you "shadow" a child you will begin to see what events lead up to the biting... Such as if the child was playing with a toy and another child came to play with the same toy and then the child went to bite... this means that you will need to encourage more sharing etc.. You did mention that this particular child hasn't been biting because what you are doing is helping!

I know how you feel when you say "you're feeling guilty about the other children" but at this point this little boy needs your support at the moment. Try and include the other children in the interactions along with this little boy, play group games, do group activities so you can include all children! It's also important to remember especially for this child is to provide lots of praise throughout the day... Another thing that works go to your local library and borrow some kids stories about feelings, being angry etc. They are great and reinforce to the children (in a way they can understand through a story) about these issues (I'm currently toilet training my toddlers and I read a book called "No More Diapers" which is about a duck who starts going to the toilet. The children really like it). Also try not to let the children sense your frustration on having to keep an eye on this boy, you don't want the children to start excluding him from their play (they may only be toddlers but they are very clever).

researched to the max for differnt stratergies

I know you have researched a lot of different strategies but I have written an article, which is available on this site, in Resources under Child Behavior and Psychology called "Biting Child". Just have a read through it and it may provide you with some new techniques to try.. Click here to read.

I just want to add that yes, it can be frustrating dealing with this especially because you're in the room by yourself and you have a million things to deal but this isn't the child's fault. It is a problem that needs to be dealt with and you know you are dealing with it by "being in arms length"". Wouldn't you rather do that then explain to a parent that their child got bitten or having another child leave??

You know over time the biting will eventually stop... there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just be there for this little boy who needs your reassurance and support...

this has worked for the last couple of months when he has been in my care he has not biten

You are obviously doing a great job!!

Hopefully things get better soon,

Cheers ,
L.A

hi ellie
im going through this myself at the moment to the stage where i have the victim dad speak down to me on the phone and tell me that if his child is being bitten more than once my assist and me are not doing my job properly. that hurt and with this father stalking me everyj afternoon asking what am i doing to prevent this is not working he became very scasry to deal with and push me into an anxiety attack which i must say was scarey. but with using the shadowing method and if the child did bite he helped with holding ice pack and repeating to him that he had hurt his friend then i held his hand for about 2 mins as he played this is still touch and go with him but fingers crossed its working.... how did you go with your child as i see this post was 5 years old?
regards
sue

Hi all, Just a quick query re the legalities of having only one person in the room. Although I do have an understanding of ratios, it is also my understanding that legally there MUST be 2 people present at all times when children are present. With atleast one of them being a qualified staff member. It was also my understanding that this applied even if there was only 1 or 2 children present.

For reference, I am pretty sure this is covered under CHCCN1D - Ensure Childrens Health and Safety'

Something that has been in place in one centre I worked at was each time a child was bitten, they had a incident accident form to complete and provided to parents of the child that was bitten, as well as bite record to provided to the parents of the child that did the bite. This gave the staff an opportunity to touch base with the childs parents/carers and try and understand some reasons the child may be biting as well as strategies to try and work with the child to resolve the issue.

We had one child who used to bite so hard, they would literally bite through the other childs skin making them bleed.

In my opinion it is completely unrealistic to offer quality care, attention and interaction to other individuals within a group of children if there is only you (which I am pretty sure is against standards) having to keep your eyes and attention focused on a child who is biting.

I would contact the licensing body in your state/territory in relation to whether or not you legally are required to have 2 staff members present in the room at any given time. - If you explain the circumstances, room set up etc I have no doubt they will be able to provide you with advice about what is and is not acceptable. You can do this anonymously, and relate that you are simply asking for advice.

Best of Luck

I do hope this was long ago resolved - considering I also just noticed the initial post was over 5 years ago.. *lopsided grin*