Dealing With Hitting & Biting in Children

Your daughter sounds like she's a spirited child. Spirited kids tend to be more curious, adventurous, powerful, persistent and sensitive (I refer to these tendencies as CAPPS) than other children. These CAPPS can go off as suddenly as a cap pistol, and when they do the result can be intense and painful. Your job as a parent is to teach your child how to handle her intense emotions within the limits of acceptable behavior.

Hitting and biting are primitive ways of handling frustration, and when a spirited child's higher mental processes get overwhelmed, guess what's left? During a calm time, talk with your child about hitting and biting not being OK ways to let people know you are angry. Find an acceptable alternative, like hitting an empty box or pillow. Teach her self-soothing methods and then put them into action when she explodes. And don't be afraid to physically restrain her when she hits or bites as you calmly remind her that "people aren't for hitting or biting." Then take her quietly to her "cool place" to cool off.