Help - 2.5\3 year old biting :(

[trudie100]

Hey ladies

Just looking for a bit of reassurance or advise from anyone who's been through this/is going through this

My little boy will be 3 in March and he's not spiteful at all- he never pulls hair or scratches or punches etc.. The only kids he's even hit whilst playing even are he's nephews and kids he's really close too

Anyway a few times now he's bitten another child (my nephew a couple of times and he's little best friend a couple of times also) the first few times he was alot younger (id say 1.5-2) and there is always a reason

For example his nephew is older and alot bigger than him and when they play fight, if my nephew is squashing him or restraining him at all my son will bite him. He only seems to bite if he's being restrained in some way or can't get away from someone

However at play group today for the first time ever he bit another child that we didn't know who was also younger than him. He also bit him on the cheek and he's never bitten anyone on the face before. Neither me or the other boys mum saw what happened to make my son bite him but the mum was sure it was my son that bit him

I really told him off and explained it was wrong and gave him a time out. I was so mortified and decided to just take him home as it didn't seem right he got to carry on playing after doing that

My question is do you think it's a serious problem that he's biting when he's nearly 3? I know it's common it kids 1-2.5 from what I've read - do you think I should be really worried he's going to be 3 in march and still doing it?

Also he's probably bitten 4-5 times total in the last couple of years so do you think I'm being over dramatic ?

I am sitting here really upset wondering if I should speak to a doctor or health visitor in case or carrys on?

Has anyone else been through anything like this and did your LO grow out of if?

I know it's common for kids to bite and that not every toddler does it but I just don't know how worried I should be ?

Sorry for the rant

 

[trudie100]

bump

 

[MiniKiwi]

Honestly, I don't think it's a huge issue. Small kids have difficulties with impulse control, he's likely just got overwhelmed in some way (positive or negative) and then it just happened! I don't think it's suprising or alarming that he responded that way when he was pinned down... I might do the same

I'd just deal with it in a different way if it were me. I think I'd offer alternatives to biting if he feels like he wants to bite someone, he's old enough to understand this. Give him an outlet. Tell him he could come and tell you, tell him he can grab onto a toy and squeeze, he could go to his room and stomp his feet? Or something you're comfortable with. I'd calmly tell him that biting is not allowed as it hurts people and then offer an alternative.

You could work on developing his impulse control, google 'games for developing impulse control' or something similar. There are a lot of good suggestions

 

[trudie100]

Thanks for the suggestions

I did explain to him how bad it was and how it hurts and he did say sorry

it just worries me because he's done it before and I don't want it to turn into a regular thing

although its probably happened 4-5 times in 2 years so I know im probably making it sound worse than it is

Its just worrying as I don't want to have to feel like I need to watch him like a hawk when ever were around other kids, ive never had to do that with him before as he's such a lovely little boy and isn't usually spiteful at al so its really out of character

I have just read about a book that's really popular to teach them about not biting so I've ordered that and im hoping that'll have some impact

The trouble with a 2.5 year old is you can tell them something until your blue in the face and within an hour they've forgotten and are onto the next thing that interests them

This is why im hoping the biting stage really is just a stage and that its something he'll grow out of very soon