Infants and Biting
From “Kazenoko Letter” No.461 - June 2016
| Children who enter our daycare centers (Kazenoko Hoikuen and Kazenoko
Baby Home) every spring are usually 0 or 1 year old. For guardians who
farm out their children for the first time, every day holds joy and surprise
at the changes in their child’s growth from the age of 1 to 2. A child starts to develop an ego from a year and a half old, with their levels of possessiveness becoming stronger. So, if something doesn’t happen in the way they want, they have strong tantrums. If guardians lack understanding in such a situation, they can act in abusive ways, scolding them strongly, etc. But this is part of a child’s natural development. Until the age of 3 is a period of time when the relationship with the mother is the foundation of development. This stable mother-infant relationship encourages the child’s ego to develop and leads to the rebellious age of 3, that is, the emotional separation of mother and child. However, during the building of this relationship with the mother, the infant enters daycare and lives in group nursing among many others. There, for an infant who is trying to develop a self-centered world as stated previously, so to say, the ego will struggle. There will be daily conflict between friends such as fighting over a toy, a position, or a nursery staff in charge. At these times of conflict, the act of biting a person in close vicinity will occur. This act of biting in order to protect themselves is instinctive, because the characteristics of sociality such as taking a step back or being patient while looking at things from the other person’s perspective develops in the latter half of age 3. A child who grows up at home where they don’t need to compete with anyone else rarely engages in the act of biting. This is one trait of group nursing. These aforementioned problems are historical and cannot be solved. The phenomenon of biting in infant care happens almost always instantaneously, and realistically is impossible to prevent. This obviously can be a matter of concern. It is necessary for us caretakers and guardians to discuss in detail how we can go about understanding this issue of biting. |
| Back△ |
Operated by
Social Welfare Corporation SUISEN FUKUSHIKAI
| Kazenoko Hoikuen | 1-11-8 Komatsu, Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka 533-0004 TEL.06-6328-4019  050-3385-0072 FAX.06-6328-4030 |