Biting:{

[MommyofThree]

Ok so I have this one year old that can be a real bully towards all the other kids like taking toys, toppling over them and staying on them. Well two weeks ago mom notice three bite marks on her . I was sad and very down as I didnt notice anything nor did the baby call out she had been biten. Well today mom text saying she has another bite mark. I have this sick feeling in the pit of my gut thinking um well im a bad provider and I dont even notice this is happening. the child never indicates shes hurt. So I text mom asking if she could be doing this at nap time because when I put her down she gets mad.


Is that a possibility? How do I prevent a child from biting her if I dont know who or how it could possibly be No other babay is getting bite and I have three other one year olds. Help

Depending on the locating of the bite marks, it is definitely possible that she could be biting herself. I've seen children bite themselves hard enough to leave marks.

[MommyofThree]

Originally Posted by Sunshine74

Depending on the locating of the bite marks, it is definitely possible that she could be biting herself. I've seen children bite themselves hard enough to leave marks.

The mom says no because she never does it at home. I will keep a close eye on her to make sure this never happens again. I have a few biters but it takes one second and boom its to late.

[itlw8]

where are the bites? if they are are on the arm yes it is possible/ See if they easily line up with her mouth If it does try putting a long sleeve shirt or a heavy sweat shirt on at nap. Then they chew on the shirt not the arm

[rhymia1]

Originally Posted by itlw8

where are the bites? if they are are on the arm yes it is possible/ See if they easily line up with her mouth If it does try putting a long sleeve shirt or a heavy sweat shirt on at nap. Then they chew on the shirt not the arm

This. If she was being bit by someone else, she probably would let you know

Do you have a video monitor so you can see her at nap time? My thought is she isn't doing it in front of you, so this way you may be able to get to the bottom of it. Good luck!

[MommyofThree]

one bite was on her wrist , the other bite was her arm, the two other bites were on her legs.

It doesn't mean your a bad provider just because she gets bites in your care. At my college Daycare/Child Development Center, they were almost going to get written up because of a little boy who bit other kids for lack of supervision but someone from state along with the boy's parents where supervising him the whole time and he bit someone under their supervision; needless to say they did not get written up. The directer actually wanted to keep the child in the program to work on their problem but liscensing said that the child is a risk to other children so they had to terminate the family from the program.

But actually biting is a sign of distress and often used as a coping mechanism (selfbitting can be the toddler version of self-harm). If you think it is someone else you can do is have children bite into something that leaves teeth marks; like an apple or toast/bread and compare the marks to the bite marks on her arm. If you do think its her (or find out who is doing this) u can try to find out what time of day these marks accure (maybe its just a hungry child/teething?) or after certain events or around certain children; when you find out the child with the problem you can try to offer that child a chewing toy such as a binky, teething ring, or a personal nibbling rag/stuffed animal (may need a leash so the child doesn't choke on it) and try to find alternatives for the child of self biting or biting others.