One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small

Fuck. And if I may, shit.

Brutus the Wee is back with a vengeance. She's not taking it any more and this time? It's personal.

When I walked into her class yesterday it looked like there was a deck of cards hanging from her little clip thingy. But nay they were not cards, they were "incident reports" and there were many. Not one, not two, not three...oh hell this is going to take too long - there were SIX! My kid went medieval in class.

Six, y'all.

All biting incidents.

One poor kid got it 3 times. You know his mother is plotting to kick my ass in the parking lot.

Remember when I asked how many incident reports it would take before you had to have the dreaded Come to Jesus meeting? That number would apparently be when your daughter gets SIX reports in one day.

Emma and her teeth of fury were praying on unsuspecting kids who were unfortunate enough to be in the general vicinity of her wrath. In other words, the incidents were unprovoked, she was just pissed for some reason. The teacher asked if she was teething? possibly although she's a biter, as you know, so I try to avoid the whole finger probe in the mouth thing. Tired? Well she did have a rough night and she took a 3 hour nap this afternoon, so yeah, apparently. This isn't uncommon with only-children. Good to know, but still... We know she doesn't have behavioral problems, so this was very out of character for her. I would say. You need to talk to her tonight about not biting......and it was at this exact moment Emma leaned over my shoulder, pointed at the pictures of the kids who she had subjected her carnage on and said "Emma no bite". The teacher looked a little stunned and I said umm, yeah we've been having that talk.

So we came up with a plan that includes a teether which will be handed to her should she bite again with the explaination that while it's ok to be mad, it is not ok to hurt someone and if you need to bite, bite on this. She'll be put in time-out. The big guns? They are being whipped out.

Officially, I am out of answers on what to do. Can I just say I'm dreading this afternoon's pick-up?

Comments

[Beverly]

So sorry to hear that. Check for ear drainage too. One kid that was biting my kiddo in school had to have tubes put in his ear. It was all unprovoked but he needed the release the tubes provided. Maybe it is ear trouble that hasn't been found yet.

Beverly

[Julie]

My sister used this book (http://www.amazon.com/Teeth-Are-Biting-Best-Behavior/dp/1575421283/ref=sr_1_3/103-4009838-1026265?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184171415&sr=8-3) for my niece, who was having similar problems with biting at daycare. It didn't solve everything, but it did help quite a bit. I'm sorry you're having this stress--just try to remember she's far from the only kid who's done this. My niece did it if she wasn't feeling well or didn't want to share the kitchen set at daycare with the younger kids (she was almost 2 among a lot of 1 year olds). They ended up taking out the kitchen set and things got better then, too.

[mortimersmom]

haaaaaa! I know this problem. TWICE over! they both bit nonstop, BB still bites a lot. we did a biting doll instead of the teething ring. she ended up taking out a lot of frustrations on the doll, kicking it, throwing it, etc. I don't think she ever actually bit it though.

[ELS]

My daughter gets really aggressive right before she gets ill. It took several rounds of "WHAT is up with her???" before we figured it out.

She just had the hand-foot-mouth virus, and a day before the blisters appeared, no fever no nothing, she smacked a very good friend of hers. Totally out of the blue.

We have a lot of "it is OK to be mad/not feel good, but it is not OK to hit" conversations in our house too.

FWIW

[Hopeful_Mommy]

Oh girl, I so relate to this. My oldest son was the biter of all biters. My younger son has a scar to prove it. He was horrible! It sounds like you are doing everything you can do and remember it is really a common stage most kids go through. Hopefully your sweet girl will grow out of this stage quickly. I completely understand the pick up at school. I would dread even making eye contact with my son's teacher. It will pass, I promise. Hang in there.

[CBReedER]

I have no advice to offer. We haven't had that problem. Yet!? I still think it's great that you always manage to keep a sense of humor. I love your little Viking!

Carol in Iowa

[kerri askew]

Okay I am going to get a lot of hate mail here, bring it on.
My little one was biting her sister, it once got so bad she left a mark and drew a bit of blood.We tried everything, I mean we did it all. My Mom finally said bite her back, no I was no into biting my 2 year old , but things didn't improve. One morning the Count bit into her sister big time, I grabbed Draculas finger and bit gently but hard enough it hurt, she cried and I explained that is how her biting hurts. That was the end of her issues.
I don't expect everyone to agree with this intervention, but who care, my kid and it worked.

[Sister Carrie]

Ohhh, didn't your heart just sink when you saw those slips? Ack. And what was up with the comment about only children? I'd be getting my hackles up over that. I've known plenty of kids with siblings who had behavior problems.

[Sabrina & Karen]

Ha! Like the last poster, I was apparently bitten by my mom AND cured of my biting as a child. I am grateful that my kids don't bite...although my little one is a pincher (not better, but doesn't make other parents as mad at you). One thing I have found with biters in my work is that it's often a communication thing...like they are lacking the verbal skills to match their emotions/desires..in which case, it's up to the adults to better supervise and encourage the kid to sign/communicate rather than bite......or it's an overstimulation thing...like when things get REALLY fun, instead of just enjoying it, the kid just chomps whoever's nearby....again, it's up to the adult to keep an eye on things...when they get really exciting, to calm the situataion or remove the kid before they can bite...I'd also look into the getting sick part/ears. Ears don't have to be infected to hurt...they can be fluid filled all or most of the time and NOT be infected...can be painful and also impacting hearing/speech development...tubes HELP! And finally...if she's biting to bully other kids or defend "her" toys (or what she percieves as hers), then AGAIN...they need to be watching her more closely and kids doing this sort of thing often benefit from being in a group with OLDER kids who are better able to share/communicate...ie, NOT snatch things from her (which IS age appropriate) and get her mad/get themselves bitten...but rather, model appropriate playing behavior and verbal "asking" for toys. Hang in there...sounds like you have a good school....here they kick you out after 3 bites....ask if they are keeping some data on what's going on right before she bites...or JUST that she's biting...what's going on before/when she bite is the most relevant part of finding out WHY. Skip talking over the actual behavior with her...she's too young to control her impulses....just practice modeling/role play the RIGHT way to do things. Like if she has a toy and you see a kid (or daddy can fill in) snatch it from her...tell her "Emma...tell daddy (or kid) NO NO"....then take the toy away from daddy and hand it back to her. Show her WHAT to do, don't focus too much on what NOT to do. Kids learn very well from you doing these little demos. Also...see if you can find some little cartoon or baby show that talks about not biting...it's amazing what they can learn from Elmo, you know?

[Kikilia]

I, too was a biter... until the dreadful day another kid bit me back. I quite cold turkey. I was around 2 or 3 then as well.

Maybe Emma will stop if this happens- though it sucks to have another kid bite her.

Could she be frustrated about communication? DOes she talk or sign when she needs something yet?

Sorry- I don't have anything great to add here- my Pipsqueak never bit... just hit, kicked, and pinched.... she did stop though- eventually.

Hang in there!

Kikilia