Archive for July 2nd, 2009

Biting child

Jul 02, 2009 in Parenting

MY child is 2 year old and bites everyone he comes across. What should I do?

Biting is a very common problem faced by many parents and you end up feeling frustrated, angry, and disappointed in your child. This reflects in your behavior and the problem escalates.

Now why would a child bite?

There is only one answer to this and that is

TO CATCH ATTENTION OF ANYONE AROUND

NOW WHY WOULD HE WANT TO CATCH ATTENTION?

This is a tricky part to answer. It may be because

You, as a parent have been neglecting him (which is fortunately not the most common cause)
He cannot verbalize his wants and if no one understands may bite anyone around in frustration
He enjoys doing it. This enjoyment may come from seeing you in frustration or anger.
There are some parents who may have laughed when the little devil did it for the first time. This too can trigger this off.
After some time he forms a habit out of this

Whatever the cause, the solution is not very easy but if tried with sincerity can stop this behavior in some time.

Now what can you do?

The first time your child bites anybody, tell him that is biting and is not allowed.
Whenever he bites, instead of giving him attention by shouting or scolding, try to just take him away without any discussion.
When your child bites, give attention to the other child and try to comfort that child.
Give timeouts as punishment.
Do not do the mistake of hitting him for the mistake or it might aggravate the problem.
Try to expose him to fewer kids at this time or inform the caretaker to supervise the child.

The aim is to take your child away from that site without causing much ado. Slowly and surely he will get out of this.