Originally Posted by AmyKidsCo:
ITA. At 18 months biting is developmentally appropriate, but not socially acceptable. It's not much different from hitting, pinching, kicking, pushing, yelling "No" and similar behaviors, except that it often leaves more of a mark and is socially seen as worse.
Most biting occurs because:
- The child is in pain from teething.
- The child enjoys the attention.
- The child is unable to express himself verbally or in other ways.
- A combination of the above.
The key is to figure out why the child is biting so you can meet those needs in other ways, like offering a teether or giving attention at other times, teaching ways to communicate (sign language) etc.
In most cases terminating the child doesn't solve the problem, it just removes the problem from your setting.
I've attached my Biting policy
That's a GREAT policy!
I hope I'm not hijacking, sorry Wednesday! Hopefully, we can both come up with a solution from this conversation.
I love your policy, Amy. I've already identified WHY, though. I'm her shadow as much as one person can be with 4 kiddos. I'm encouraging using her words (I think I mentioned above she says "STOP!" quite often).
I don't think it's attention seeking. I think it's her awkward and socially unacceptable way of "protecting" herself.