4.5 y/o biting & behaviour issues! Help!

[Mumof4yo]

I'm reaching out for some advice on dealing with my 4.5-year-old's behaviour, specifically biting and testing boundaries. Despite our efforts with positive parenting—praising good behavior and being firm with the not-so-good—we're facing challenges, particularly with biting incidents at kindergarten and general resistance to listening to us at home. We take away toys when needed and have started a behaviour chat.

Our little one has a strong personality and is in the process of figuring out their boundaries. We've encouraged using words, walking away when upset, or seeking help from an adult when feeling hurt. However, when we try to discuss these incidents or bad behaviour, we often get a loud "stop" and it's clear they're tuning us out.

We're at a bit of a loss on how to gain more control and guide them through this phase more effectively. Has anyone else experienced something similar? I'd really appreciate any strategies or insights you could share on managing biting behaviors and helping a strong-willed child listen and respect boundaries.

Thank you in advance for your help and understanding.

Best, A Concerned Parent

[Stormy-RO]

Hi Mumof4yo,

Thank you so much for this post and for an insight into how your journey is progressing. Reaching out about concerns can always be a difficult thing to accomplish, and I can imagine that when those concerns are over your own child it can bring a whole new range of difficulty. I wanted to take a moment however to let you know that you are taking incredible and caring steps towards your both you and your own child's wellbeing, you should be incredibly proud of the steps you’ve already put in and the ones to come.

In regard to your post, I’m really sorry to let you know that ReachOut only caters to parents whose children are 12-18 years of age. However, I’ll give you a link to Parentline, as well as provide you with this article that Raising Children has on biting.

I hope that you find these links useful, and I wish you the best with your child's journey.