Thank you, Cheryl Marsiglia, for your enlightening post about daycare licensure and the use of behavioral techniques in daycare. It occurred to me that we on TIPS are always painfully aware of IRB restrictions for our research, but we're not too accustomed to thinking of the Department of Justice looking over our shoulders. And you had to love Mike Williams' post about his daughter, the Champion Biter.
I just spoke with my daughter, who is a Speech Pathologist, about this thread. She said the current approach - used by Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists - for biting toddlers is to substitute something else for them to bite, because biting babies/children are frequently "sensory kids," who also are likely to grind their teeth and seek other sensory stimulation. Biting is a very rewarding "occupation" for these children. (I can attest that this need to bite down can be a strong one - at 56, I STILL frequently feel a deep urge to clench my jaws together. [Not necessarily after reading a challenging TIPS post.] My mother denies I was a biter and my twin sister doesn't report any scars, but my teeth don't particularly appreciate the many years of deep clenching.) There are three substitutions of choice she recommended. One is called a Nuk Brush, another is called a Thera-Tube, and her third was any mouth toys, or even teethers and "Fruit Leather." She pointed out that a baby of 18-months can understand, "No, no. Don't bite people. Bite THIS." She agreed with me that timeouts are pretty difficult to employ with a baby that young, since they're a little young to comprehend the cause and effect. But she disagreed with my suggestion that the baby be taken out of daycare for a couple of weeks, saying it was unrealistic, and that parents are very resistant when that is suggested. Parents tend to tune out the therapist when that advice is given, feeling the therapist doesn't understand what the "real world" is like. Beth Benoit University System of New Hampshire --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
