by Jane Vee

Created on: December 14, 2010   Last Updated: December 15, 2010

Biting is a developmental stage that most children go through.  It will pass like all phases do.  You will need to discipline your child for biting.  Discipline will get your child out of a “phase” quicker than doing nothing or ignoring the problem. With discipline and consistency, your child will start another phase before you know it.

The first thing to do is to find out why your child is biting.  There are usually two reasons a child bites.  Some children bite to explore texture, which is sensory and the other reason is the child is mad or jealous.  The third type of biters usually just bite a couple of times.  Those children bite just to see what it is like, but once they are told no they will stop biting.  

Children who bite for sensory issues still need to be told no.  Luckily, they mostly bite inanimate objects.  Unfortunately, there can be some safety concerns such as choking hazards and cleanliness of objects.  Children that bite for sensory satisfaction usually do not try to eat the object, they just “mouth” the object for texture.  However, a small part can come off of the toy by accident and choke the child.  So if you are a parent of a child that bites because of sensory issues and your doctor has said this is not a phase that is going to go away, you will need to consider sensory toys for your child that can be put in his or her mouth at any time.

The child that bites out of frustration, anger, or jealousy needs constant discipline.  These are the children that are expressing their emotions in a negative way and need to be redirected.  You will want to discipline the biters of emotion differently than the child that is biting for sensory satisfaction.

In order to discipline the biter effectively, you will want to immediately issue punishment.  You will need to decide whether biting was justified or not.  Did the other child bite your child first or did your child get mad because a toy was taken away?  Either way, immediately separate the children and tell the biter that biting is not nice and it hurts.  Listen to your child’s explanation to decide what type of punishment should be given.

If your child is defending himself or herself, let them know that instead of biting back they need to tell an adult what happened.  In this situation, a good talking to is all that is needed.  Your child probably will not bite again

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