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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
Son biting and hitting
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
Son biting and hitting
by 76Robyn, Jan 25, 2008 10:05AM
My 4 yro son pummels his friends at daycare. It is usually only one day a week. It isn't all the time. Nothing provokes him. he just turns to his friend and starts hitting them. It goes on all day. But he is fine the rest of the days. Just yesterday he bit one of his friends. He was sitting at an activity and just turned to his friend and bit him drawing blood. When I asked him what happened he just says he couldn't control himself. Nothing provoked him. It happened right in front of a teacher. What do I do to prevent him from doing this? We have tried discipline(time-out taking away toys etc....) This behavior does not surface at home.
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Jan 25, 2008 10:28AM
, Jan 25, 2008 10:28AM
The real key is not so much what you are going to do about it, but rather what the staff at school is going to do about it. Such behavior requires, obviously, very close monitoring and supervision of him. Beyond, that, though, it requires a systematic program of behavior management. Immediately on the occurrence of any aggressive behavior, he should be placed in time out and remain there for 5-10 minutes. He should then issue an apology to the person he hurt, do something nice (e.g., draw a picture) for the child, and then be permitted to play by himself but not alongside another child for the duration of the day (depending on what time the incident occurs). In other words, the response has to be systematic and immediate. Of course you can support what the school is trying to do by reinforcing the expectation that your son treat people well, but it is primarily the response of the school staff that is going to make the most difference.
