10 Sensory Strategies for Biting

By SensorytOTspotSensory in the Home, Sensory Processing Theory and Techniques, Uncategorized

Biting is one of those childhood behaviors that can be very difficult to deal with as a parent and caregiver.  Both of my boys were biters, and my younger one still resorts to biting at times.  From my own experiences with my boys I can tell you how stressful and anxiety provoking having a child who bites is.  You worry that they may bite a peer at daycare or school.  You worry what the other child’s parent will say, think, or do.  I have had a few parents that have become very upset that they’re child was bit by mine (and rightly so), which caused so much stress, anxiety, and guilt on my part.  It left me feeling helpless wondering what to do to help my child and fearing that my child will be left being labeled as a “bad” child.

Here’s the thing about biting, the majority of time it is stemming from a sensory need.  While some children do ultimately learn to use biting in a learned behavioral sense to get attention from adults, the majority of times this behavior began as a sensory seeking and organization strategy.  For my oldest son, biting stemmed from seeking oral motor input combined with limited speech and language skills at the time.  While my younger son’s biting stemmed from needing his space and becoming overwhelmed when peers enter his personal space.

I can’t tell you how many conversations I have had with my boy’s pediatrician regarding the biting concerns, and how many times I was told it’s just a phase and every child goes through it.  While this advice may have some truth in it, it surely does not help with the feelings of mom guilt and the pressure placed on you from other parents, family members, and possibly teachers to stop your child from engaging in this negative behavior.

While for some children it is just a phase, for others it continues to be an area of need in order to organize their sensory system.  Whether it is just a phase or something that may last longer, there are sensory strategies that may help alleviate the biting and prevent it from happening in the future.  I can tell you from my personal experiences with both my boys, that while it did not completely eliminate the biting altogether, these strategies did help to minimize the incidents and the majority of the time we were able to stop them from biting a peer.

  1. Do not blame your child for biting:  Changing the frame of mind from biting being a behavior that is learned, to them trying to meet a sensory regulation need can make all the difference.  Just as an infant uses the sucking reflex to self soothe sucking their thumb or pacifier.  An older child and even adults use their mouth as a sensory organizer during times of sensory overload and stress.  Think of a young child sticking their tongue out during a difficult task to help them focus or an adult that bites their fingers or hair.  These are all ways that people try to regulate their sensory system using their mouth.  For young children, they may feel the urge to bite in order to obtain deep pressure input into their mouth as a way to regulate their sensory system.  There may appear to be no rhyme or reason as to why they are biting.  Some children will chew on objects, while others may lash out against peers.  Remembering that it’s is not the child’s motive to be bad or mean to their peers that is causing it is half the battle.  It may take a lot of education to other professionals and parents for them to understand your child’s needs.  I say this not to condone the behavior.  If your child does bite a peer, an apology to the other parent can go a long way.  However, it does help in terms of the way the behavior is perceived and addressed.  A child shouldn’t be punished for something that they cannot control.
  2. Use a Vibrating Power Toothbrush: The sensory tool of vibration can be an extremely powerful tool.  Vibration provides strong deep pressure input into the mouth, which is known to be calming and soothing to the sensory system.  It also activates the vestibular sensory system.  The vestibular system is our sense of movement through our ear canal.  Many times a child who may be biting may be craving more movement and activation of this vestibular system.  Therefore, the vibrating toothbrush can work twofold by providing deep pressure to the mouth and also activating their motor system.  I recommend using a vibrating power toothbrush both morning and night to start and end their day.  If you find that your child craves more of this input throughout the day, a quick brushing during the middle of the day or as often as needed may be helpful too.  Both of my boys use vibrating toothbrushes and enjoy them.  I leave a vibrating power toothbrush at their daycare and school as well, that way if they need extra input throughout the day it’s available to them.  Vibrating power toothbrushes for kids are easily accessible and affordable at most grocery stores and pharmacy’s now.
  3. Use a Sensory Chew:  Offering your child a safe and appropriate item to bite and chew on can be beneficial by providing them an outlet to perform the behavior in a way that is acceptable.  When a child is engaging in biting whether it be an object that is not appropriate or a peer, I suggest having a sensory chew toy at the ready to redirect.  Eventually your child will learn that they can chew and bite their sensory chew, but that it isn’t acceptable to bite friends or other toys.  This teaches your child a great coping mechanism to address their sensory needs of biting without taking that much needed sensory input away.  There are many sensory chew items on the market ranging from items for the youngest of babies to pencil toppers for older children and adults.  I really like ARK Therapeutic Products Textured Grabber Sensory Chew (as pictured above from www.arktherapeutic.com).
  4. Drink from a Water Bottle or Straw:  Incorporating straw drinking or drinking through a water bottle with a spout throughout your child’s day provides increased sensory input to the mouth.  Adding additional sensory input through the mouth can decrease and possibly eliminate your child’s sensory need to bite, as they are getting a similar type of input elsewhere in their day.  Offering them cups with straws or a water bottle throughout the day is an easy way to incorporate added sensory input without having to stop the routine or add something additional to their normal routine.  I recommend using a Contigo or Camelbak style water bottle for children who are heavy biters, as these brands have very durable spouts and they can withstand children biting heavily on the spout.  Both of my boys drink from these types of water bottles, and we exclusively use straw cups over others.  My younger son requires very durable straws in his cups because as I said before, he is a heavy biter and will chew on the straws as he drinks.  The more opportunities I give him to have the water bottle around, the less I see him biting peers or chewing on toys.
  5. Participating in Activities involving Blowing:  Just like the water bottle idea, adding in activities that involve blowing provides added sensory input into the mouth which can provide your child with the sensory needs they are seeking in a more appropriate way throughout his/her day.  Activities could range from blowing bubbles, blowing feathers in the air, blowing a ping pong ball across the table, blowing whistles, blowing party blowers, and much more.  You can use your imagination to come up with creative ways to incorporate blowing exercises throughout your child’s day.  When my older son was biting at daycare, I created a simple box using a plastic reusable food container and stuffed it full of feathers, party blowers, whistles etc. for the daycare staff to have him use to “keep his mouth busy,” to redirect from biting.  This really worked to decrease his biting throughout the day, and his daycare provider was pleasantly surprised.  The daycare director ended up buying party blowers for all of the kids to utilize at set times during the day, and it was a really effective strategy overall and the kids all loved it.
  6. Practice Humming or Animal Noises:  Again, the idea behind this activity is adding additional sensory input into the mouth to decrease the need for them to seek input from elsewhere like biting.  Humming, making animal noises, or even making environmental sounds during play can provide great sensory input into the mouth.  Each of these activities involves different lip and tongue movements to produce the sounds and when making the sounds it sends vibrations throughout the mouth as well.  This is all wonderful sensory input directly into the mouth.  If you take a moment to hum your favorite song you will feel the vibrations in your mouth that is the sensory input we are talking about.  Another example is to try mooing like a cow or make a siren noise like a fire engine.  While you do this pay attention to how it feels and the movements of your tongue and lips as you make the sounds.  All of this added sensory information into our mouth comes from participating in these play tasks.  This can really make a difference in the oral motor needs of young children, and it’s just plain fun and engaging too!
  7. Eat a Variety of Crunchy & Chewy Foods:  Making sure that your child is eating a well balanced diet is important.  Obviously, we want our children to be healthy and growing appropriately for their age.  In terms of their sensory needs in regards to their mouth and oral processing; it is important to think about the food textures that we are providing to our child.  We want the food that we offer to our kids to have a variety of textures.  In regards to biting and sensory seeking behavior in the mouth, crunchy and chewy foods provide more sensory feedback and input as we eat them than their softer and smoother counterparts.  I recommend having a well rounded diet including a variety of textures at mealtime; however, children who are prone to biting may benefit from eating crunchy and chewy foods throughout the day as well.  Foods that have this consistency can range from carrots, celery, crackers, and chips to fruit snacks and chewy granola bars.  Incorporating foods with this consistency will more than likely cause a decrease in the need to chew and bite throughout the day.
  8. Eat a Variety of Flavors:  In connection with food textures, consider thinking about and incorporating a variety of food flavors into your child’s diet.  Many times children who seek extra sensory input into their mouths, tend to enjoy intense flavors and complex flavor combinations of foods.  These children may benefit from a wide array of flavors in their day to day meals, and oftentimes these children tend to be the ones that love dips and condiments to add flavor to a variety of dishes.  My younger son craves intense flavor in his meals; he is my two year old that loves buffalo chicken wings and insists on getting buffalo chicken pizza when we order out.  He is also my child that loves dipping his food into a vast array of condiments from salsa, ketchup, ranch dressing to mustard.  Allowing him the opportunity to have these more intense flavors in his diet does seem to help with limiting his need for seeking extra sensory input through biting throughout his day.
  9. Practice making Silly Faces: This one is another great exercise for adding sensory input and feedback into the mouth in a fun and engaging way.  I love that this activity involves a little social interaction between you as the parent and the child as well.  I suggest making a silly face and having your child try to imitate it and vice versa.  Some ideas for silly faces to try are touching your tongue to your nose, sticking out your tongue, making a kissy face with your lips, making a duck face, puckering your bottom lip out like you’re sad etc.  Just like the animal and environment sound activity, this one provides amazing sensory input and feedback as your tongue and lips work to make the different silly faces.
  10. Provide a Safe and Quiet Space:  Like I said earlier, my younger son has a tendency to lash out with biting when his sensory system becomes overloaded.  We see the biting happening most often when the environment becomes too much for him to handle and/or a peer becomes to close to his personal space (which sometimes is a wide area of space).  In these instances, the only thing that will resolve or prevent the behavior is placing him in a safe and quiet space for him to work on regaining his sensory regulation and calming his body down.  The majority of the time he is more than happy to go to the quiet area of the room and actually enjoys his time alone to regroup and play by himself.  This time that we provide him is by no means a punishment, but more of a time for him to calm his body and take a much needed sensory break.  For my youngest, this strategy seems to be the most effective for him at the moment.

111 thoughts on “10 Sensory Strategies for Biting”

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