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- Knowledgebase: Parenting Questions
- Questions about the managment of common parenting problems such as discipline.
- 8. My 15 month old son has begun to bite and hit - Top
- O: My 15 month old son has begun to bite and hit children at his daycare; what can we do?
A: This is a very common problem at this age. These children are just beginning to get some mobility and they are checking out their environment as well as defending it. The old adage to bite or hit them back to show them how it feels does not appear to work and may even promote the feet that adults also bite and hit. A consistent firm response is the best approach. The child should be separated immediately and told firmly that the behavior is unacceptable and placed in time-out (good guideline is approximately one minute per year of age). If a child is resistant to changing their behavior, the length of the "time-out" may be increased. In extremely resistant children, they may lose the privilege of being with other children but with patience and consistency, the extreme approach in rarely needed. However, in reference to Daycare; sometimes for the safety of all the children, a child with this problem may be needed to be removed from the Daycare, at least temporarily.
- Updated: March 25, 2001
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- Knowledgebase: Parenting Questions
James L Horwitz, MD
David C. Thomas, MD
Barbara Lindberg, PNP