Behavior Management: How to Stop Your Child from Biting

Although biting is usually considered a problem of early childhood, especially the toddler years, some children will continue or even begin this behavior in the school age years.  This can be a real problem especially if your child is biting other children and adults. Biting behavior in older children is usually seen in children who have some sort of special need whether it be ADHD, autism, or developmental delay.  There are usually four common reasons why a child may take up biting and these include: 

• The child is acting out of frustration and anger (aggression).
• The child has learned that biting can get them attention.
• The child is using biting as a way to stop a task they find difficult or boring.
• The child has sensory integration issues and needs oral motor stimulation.

To ascertain the reason behind the biting look for situational cues.  If your child is doing this to other children during rough play or when he or she feels provoked then it may be out of fear or frustration.  Your child may perceive this action to be a way to protect themselves against other children who get in their space.  It may also be a direct aggressive act where they also hit or kick other children when feeling angry. 

If your child has a big silly grin on their face or laugh after they have tried to bite someone it may be an attention getting behavior. 

Look for patterns of when the biting behavior occurs.  If your child is engaging in this behavior during certain tasks that you know he or she does not like, it may be an avoidance behavior to get out of completing the task at hand.

Lastly, if your child is biting his or her own skin, clothing, non-food items, in addition to biting others, it may be that they have some oral motor sensory issues which need to be addressed.

I can tell you that my son has engaged in biting for every reason stated here except for aggression.  This is one of those behaviors which can be extremely challenging because people are not going to want to be around your kid if they are going to get hurt.  For my child, what happened was, the biting began as a sensory issue and then generalized to an attention getting and avoidance behavior.  This is the problem with such behaviors is that they may begin for one reason and then they take a life of their own when that behavior is sustained for multiple reasons. 

Here are some strategies you can use to stop your child from biting.

If your child is biting out of fear, frustration, or aggression:  Replace the biting behavior with communication and coping strategies.  Explain that biting is no longer an option and what consequence will ensue if they even try to bite someone.  Role play the situations which provoke this response and find alternate ways for your child to cope such as asking the teacher or parent for help.  Set up examples with a lead in phrase of, "When I feel angry I can..." and list those alternative actions for your child.