Toddlers - Biting!

I need to bring this thread back desperatly.
Shaunie is almost 15months old, on Friday we picked him up at school, he was sitting outside by the owner on her lap watching the kids play. Nico picked him up and walked over to show him the little animals they have there, he enjoys this every day. He walked back and asked her what the mark was on his hand - her relpy was "he must of scratched himself , but I have put cream on".. so I said okay. I walked in to fetch his bag, and his teacher was standing there, so I aksed her what happened without mentioning what the owner had said her reply was " ****** bit him", I said oh okay.. we went home, as I did not want to cause a scene about the lying.

On Friday morning, there were nice blue and purple teeth on his hand - I was beyond angry.. and we decided to speak to the owner about it.

Bear in mind that this little girl that bit him is over 20 months old, and the school's policy is that from 18months old and they walk, they have to be in the bigger class.

This morning we dropped him off, and Nico asked the owner to have a word.. we walked outside and Nico told her that the "mark she was referring to is a very clear teeth mark, and that we are not happy about the fact that she tried to hide it". She apologised and then said that we need to understand that "toddlers do go through a phase of biting" - to which I agreed as I come from the preffession and know all about it. I then queried why this child was still in my LO group as she is well over 20 months and she is walking. to which she said "she needs the dicipline of the teacher in shauns group" and I said that she will not receive this in the baby section of the class.

This child is known for these things, as she is one of the "teachers" children and she receives a heave load of attention from absolutely everyone, I adored her untill friday, she is one of those kids that you cannot help but notice and she is always around for you to pick her up ect.

Even if Shaun did take something from her - I do not feel that this was the way it should have hapenned - she is older and should not be in this group, all the other kids, like my own cannot yet walk on their own nor do they have any idea about pain and inflicting pain. So I do not think that I could think of this any diffrently, except that the owner has now admitted that the child in question has been doing this recently!!! I mean take her out of my childs baby group, as she is wayyyyy older and she could seriously hurt one of the smaller kids. She walks over them sometimes! I have seen this...

I shudder at the thought of my poor baby (okay toddler) sitting there screaming of the pain of being bitten!!!! I now started crying just thinking of it. Plus this child has a full set of teeth, and big ones I might add!! my child has 2 teeth!!! how does he defend himself!!

Best advise i can give for a child who bites is to bit them back and hard, they will never bit again. Amanda did it once i bit her and she has never bitten again.
For a teacher it is a different thing and they are not allowed to do much!

Monica please don't feel bad about suggesting pepper There's a boy in Mignione's class that' bullies' her as soon as he sees that we are there to collect her in the evenings and I feel like bullying him back when I see it...hahaha It's a normal reaction for a mom to want to protect her child.

Hopefully the teacher will keep an extra eye on your LG to make sure to stop the biters from biting her. If the teacher doesn't make a plan to try and stop the biting I would speak to the principal?

Monica you are not a terrible parent, you just want to protect your child.

I haver not read the replies. I am sorry that your lo has been bitten. It is quite normal but never nice for the child or parent to go through. It is not just the school's policy but law that they may not smack the children and I think putting pepper in the child's mouth would be equally wrong.

All they can do is to reprimand the child and possibly give a time out and then let the parent know. It is after all our responsibility to teach your child right from wrong and I do believe children of this age understand even 5 hours later.

Ideally they should ignore the behaviour of the child that bites as all attention neg or positive is attention. The child who is bitten should be given all the attention thus teaching the biter that their behaviour will be ignored and then hopefully they will outgrow it.

Biting in toddlers is perfectly normal and often done out of frustration ie if a child is playing with something and another child tries to take the toy, they are unable to say "no, I am still playing with it" (or something similar), so they smack or bite.

It is similar to a mini tantrum.

I am busy reading "Taming your Toddler" and he recommends showering the child who has been bitten with attention and compeltely cutting out the biter - toddlers thrive on attention, so even speaking harshly is giving them a reaction, which can actually encourage the behaviour.
With the older child time out can work, as it once again cuts them out from the class activities

Personally I don't think most toddlers understand the naughty corner before 2 years of age. I asked my therapist about the naughty corner, and she said that they should be able to comprehend why they are put there and also be able to sit still and stay there. I know my LO (18 months) is nowhere near that point!