What to Do When Your Child Is Bitten at Daycare
When your child is bitten in a child-care setting, it is a frustrating and upsetting situation for all involved. Biting can happen at an early age when children don't have the verbal skills yet to express themselves properly. Sometimes children bite on purpose. Luckily, most bites from young children don't break the skin, which could lead to infection. Taking care of the bite after it happens, both physically and mentally, can help the bitten child prevent and/or better deal with future bites.
Check the Wound
Check the bite wound carefully. The bite should have been properly cleaned with mild soap and water and covered with an antiseptic and bandage at day care. The child-care provider should have also contacted you after the bite took place to inform you of the accident.
Discuss the incident with a child-care provider when the bitten child is picked up. You should be provided with a detailed explanation for what took place and how the situation was dealt with. If you don't feel the child-care provider has followed proper procedure, contact the director of the day care to schedule a meeting to discuss the matter.
Contact a Doctor
Contact a doctor if the skin was broken to discuss further treatment. There is risk of hepatitis B and C being passed from child to child if the skin was broken from the bite. There is also potential risk of infection.
Follow your doctor's recommendations for vaccinations if felt necessary. Continue to keep the bite clean by washing with a mild soap and administering antiseptic. If the bite area becomes red and swollen, contact a doctor.
Talk with Your Child
Talk with your child about what happened before the bite. Where the children playing a game? Was the child that bit acting aggressively? Talk with your child about using her words to express to other children and adults when she is feeling scared to alert them of a potential biting situation. Provide love, comfort and encouragement to ease your child's concerns about attending day care in the future. Being bitten can be traumatic for young children and can affect their desire to attend day care and play with others.
Discuss the situation with staff at the child-care facility and their plans to keep biting from happening again. Maintain strong communication with the day-care staff after the biting incident for information on how your child is adjusting after the incident and if there are any concerns.
Tags: child-care provider, Talk with, bitten child, Bitten Daycare, child about, Child Bitten, Child Bitten Daycare
