How to prevent your child from biting in daycare
Many young children bite in the nursery. Why do they do it and what can be done to avoid it?
Whether you work in daycare or have a small child who normally bites , you can stop this from happening without having to use aggression. Young children need your guidance and love to understand what to do at all times. Biting can be normal behavior in young children, but with the right interventions, children will stop biting after a few days or weeks.
It is important not to punish the small child when he bites, the essential thing is to redirect the behavior and use the distraction. Otherwise, if you scold or punish him, you will be negatively reinforcing the behavior so it will be repeated more times. You need to know what you owe. Do and what you have to avoid.
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WHAT EDUCATORS CAN DO IN THE NURSERY
Young children will not understand a complete sentence, so you should avoid speeches because they will not do you any good. As we have mentioned before, if you intervene you can even reinforce the biting behavior. But you can use these techniques to make it stop:
-It intervenes by saying: ‘Don’t bite’ firmly but calmly if he is about to bite. It will need to be closely watched or followed for several days. You need to do it without you knowing that you are getting extra attention.
-If it has already bitten you will also have to give the signal firmly but calmly: ‘No’, ‘It does not bite’ or ‘Do not bite’.
-After biting, you should keep him away from the other child and ignore his behavior for two minutes, although this is not really a formal time-out like you would use for an older child.
-Remind him not to bite once in a while, including a brief reminder that “biting hurts.”
-Offer praise and positive attention as long as he is not biting and is playing well.
-Maintain a good daily routine and structure, including meals, naps, and playtime.
-Avoid asking the father or mother of the child to pick him up because he has bitten, because it will reinforce the bad behavior.
-NEVER bite back so that he knows what it feels like since he will think that biting is normal and that it can be done to show anger.
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO TO PREVENT THEIR CHILD FROM BITING
It is helpful to know why and when the child bites. It may be because of tiredness, because he wants to express himself and gets frustrated because he does not have the language yet to do it, because they have made him mad, because things happen at home that take him out of his routine and destabilize him emotionally, etc.
At home, you will need to make sure you maintain a good routine and that she gets a good night’s sleep. Young children who are overly tired or stressed are more likely to bite in daycare. If she doesn’t do it at home anymore, there’s not much you can do at home … but you’ll have to find out why she does it at daycare.
Maybe your child is not happy in daycare, maybe there are too many children, or just daycare is not going well for him. Keep in mind that the nursery should not be to blame, they may be doing good things as professionals, but for whatever reason your child is not well and that is what should be investigated to improve the situation.
Biting is a normal phase or behavior for most young children, which is the most important thing most parents need to know.
Younger children often bite when their teeth are teething, when they are tired, when they are jealous, frustrated, or angry. They can also bite and simply see what happens when they bite, which is especially true for babies and young children, who may be experimenting and exploring their world.
You must be careful not to overreact when the child bites, which can reinforce the behavior because your child becomes excited by the reaction it produces.
Never bite your child, or physically punish him such as putting something in his mouth when he bites so that he does not bite … this will only make the behavior worse.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.