Moms of sensory kids...biting?

Do any of your kids with sensory issues tend to bite?

At this point it's not even a reaction to a situation, as far as something being taken away from her or fighting over something. She just randomly goes for people.

The other day at our My Gym class, she wasn't happy about being in the swing and went to bite the chain. So I know sometimes it's from stress. But at daycare, they really seem to think it's random. They could just be sitting at the same table, getting ready for something, and she goes for it.

The OT I have been speaking with (only met with once) said that to Riley, it's not random. She IS reacting to something, probably that someone is invading her 'space.' She could be concentrating deeply on something, and whoever it is that comes in, is disturbing her.

Have any of you had these issues? She's had good and bad days. Sometimes she has a great stretch of nothing. Last week, she was exhausted and she attempted about 8 times that day. And that was after having at least a week of great days.

Today, 2 attempts.

Thanks for your feedback.

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

My 3 year old (PDD) doesn't bite but spits. It's gotten better with school but ocassionally it still comes out. His OT suggested chew toys but it never worked on him, ever try it?

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

hi there,

I have not followed your story.. but i think that all kids do this. I know that my son did it for a bit and it took about 2 weeks consecutive to make it stop. i read that when they bite you.. pretend that you are really hurt from them biting you and if have to.. fake cry..that's what i did in conjunction with verbally telling my DS that's not nice he's really hurt us. and if all else fails..bit them back! lol i think i did that too.. to show them how much it hurts!

btw- was your DD dx with sensory issues? im sorry if she has any

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

DS never bit, but he does hit other children (and occasionally us as well). His teachers also told us it was random, but his SEIT did an FBA with him and found it happened mainly when someone got too close to him or was too loud, or if he was very excited and happily playing with other children. He doesn't hit often for the usual aggressive reasons or when someone takes a toy, etc.

He has speech therapy, and his therapist works with him on saying "you're too close," etc. rather than hitting. That has improved a lot. The excitement, his teachers are working on with him (lots of positive reinforcement when he doesn't hit and he is removed from the scene when he does thus a negative consequence). His old OT thought this behavior would fade when he had more sensory integration and she worked on this with him also, his current OY does not feel he has sensory issues (!), so getting a new OT is something I need to do now.

I know it's not biting, but the behaviors sound so similar. If you have a SEIT, I would ask for an FBA, and then you can move on from there in terms of addressing the behavior.

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

Hi Tara!

Victor does this more at home with his sister. I thankfully have not been told he is doing this at school yet. But, I notice Victor does it more out of excitement like when him and his sister are roughing around....they are laughing, tickling each other, rolling around..etc...and it seems like he gets overstimulated or something and then pushes his face in her and tries to bite. My OT told me that giving him big squeezes could help give him input...So, occasionally I let them play around, but once I know he is getting to that point...I pull him away and give him a big hug...

Not sure if this will help your situation, but I figured I would pass it on to try...

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

I have a 6yr old non verbal autistic brother and he is a biter. Until we figured out why he was doing it we used to try to get him to stop and take away what he was biting on. Now that we know it's a sensory issue sometimes we just have to let him do it, as long and he isn't hurting himself or anyone else. He does tend to try to bite people too so especially while he is at school, he has thing (almost like a teething toy) that he bites on. He uses that mostly and it really seems to help to just let him have that outlet when he gets frustrated or excited.

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

I just want to throw this idea out there... "mouthing" and "biting" could be a mineral deficiency. (sort of like PICA). Increasing potassium like adding coconut water to drinks, or iron rich foods could possibly eliminating the need for "biting".

I have posted about this before, but I take my dd to a nutrionist/dan practioner who is also an OT. She always contributes oral motor sensory cravings to that.

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

Thanks for the advice on the coconut water/iron. My DS i always trying to eat paper so I always wondered if it was a deficiency.

My OT told me that biting can be from over stimulation and he doesn't always realize what he is doing. He bites rarely, but its always at the end of the day and seems very random. Sometimes we'll be having a tickle fest and then he bites my shirt and arm with no real cause for biting.

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

BookMom- I definitely agree about the overstimulation- that's where I'm noticing most of it is coming from.

There definitely is something about the diet. I actually just saw that they link mineral deficiencies to hyperactivity. I feel like all of these behaviors really came out in the last year, and it's certainly when her diet went in the tank. Ugh it's so tough to feed this kid.

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

I worked at DDI for a few years. I had a number of childer which were biters and mouthers. The Speech pathologist was able to order a mouthing tube. It was rubber and looked like a pipe. We would have the child that bites chew on it a few times a day and a few times on each side of their mouth. They learned that they were only able to bite on this. Anytime they mouthed or bit something or someone we would give it to him/her. Slowly, they stopped needing the tube altogether. HTH

Re: Moms of sensory kids...biting?

Thanks so much. I have a chewy toy I bought for this reason, and she refuses it. She gets mad and throws it. :(

We had a bad day today. And I'm convinced I know why. I forgot her probiotic. And guess what happened at the end of the day? Yeast infection. This kid has too much yeast buildup. I've got to figure this one out. Talking to her ped tomorrow.

They said none of her bites were out of frustration or anger...it was all like she had this incredible urge. She went to bite a teacher, and the teacher gave her a cheese stick- Riley violently bit into it like it was some great relief.

Ugh...this is just going on too long.

I'm glad that we finally had a thorough OT eval and she was been recommended for services. Hoping this OT can help.