Dealing with Biters

by Erica Albertson

About biting children: I worked in a daycare where a 2 year old child was biting several times a day. I helped him to overcome this over a period of about 1 month. Let's call him Bob. Bob was biting because he wanted a toy, thought someone was gonna take something from him, was going to do his cleanup chore, and other reasons. God let me know that Bob's problem was that he could not voice himself. He didn't know how to handle ANY situation he was facing from minute to minute throughout the whole day! Once I realized this I would watch Bob's mannerisms and try to help him through a situation before he even realized that he might get angry. I knew what things bothered him and I would give him the words to say. Like "You're hurting me.Please stop.That doesn't feel good.I had it first but I will let you play with it next. Can I play with it after you?" and anything else God would direct me to say to Bob. After the first week I saw major improvements even though he was still totally dependent on me giving him his every word. After the second week he had cut biting down more than half and was beginning to say some things for himself. I would also talk to the other kids in the class about not upsetting Bob and listening to what he had to say. I could see Bob's social skill really growing and he did stop biting. It really works! Just give them the kind words and simple words to voice themselves with and never let them bully and put each other down.