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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
4 Year old bitting
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
4 Year old bitting
by Pamela, Feb 22, 2001 12:00AM
My 4 Year old boy has all the sudden started bitting. He started at my moms house and bit her all the time. When he came home from her house he never bit me. Well, my mom had taken him to preschool the other day and he bit the teacher and hit and kicked her. So, I decided it wasn't a good idea for her to take him to preschool. Two days later he bit and headbutter the teacher. She had said he has never done it bofore. Please help me on how to controll this?
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Feb 22, 2001 12:00AM
, Feb 22, 2001 12:00AM
If this behavior appeared all of a sudden, and your son has otherwise been behaving normally, it indicates that something has changed in his environment and the change is upsetting to him. So, in addition to managing the behavior, it is crucial to figure out what has him so unsettled.
Relative to managing the behavior, he should be placed in time out immediately when any dangerous behavior occurs. He should be expected to sit quietly in a chair fora period of ten minutes or so. When the time out ends, he should be asked about the behavior that resulted in the time out. After the time out, he should play alone for fifteen minutes or so, and then be allowed to pay with one other child (in other words, he shouldn't proceed from time out to playing with a large group of children right away).
Relative to managing the behavior, he should be placed in time out immediately when any dangerous behavior occurs. He should be expected to sit quietly in a chair fora period of ten minutes or so. When the time out ends, he should be asked about the behavior that resulted in the time out. After the time out, he should play alone for fifteen minutes or so, and then be allowed to pay with one other child (in other words, he shouldn't proceed from time out to playing with a large group of children right away).
