Hi Shane,
As a childcare provider, I have to take issue with the posters who said your provider is not doing a very good job of protecting your child. I will tell you what I tell every parent who walks through my door - "Almost every child will bite and almost every child will get bitten." It is IMPOSSIBLE for a provider to have her eye on each and every child EVERY minute of the time that they are in our care. If we did, we would have to huddle the children together in one room and the stress level would be immense.
I have had many biters in my care and if you understand WHY they bite, then you can begin to understand how to stop the behavior. When a child feels they can't communicate (or simply choose not to) and biting provides the immediate result (biter bites, other child drops toy, biter picks it up) then as a provider, I can begin to work with the biter to set firm boundries and consequences. No method works overnight and as providers WE ARE UNABLE TO BITE BACK which leaves us with methods that don't provide immediate results. Personally, I use the Boy's Town method of pre-teaching. When I have a biter, I stop them mid-track, in the midst of playing and preteach. For severe cases, I will stop the child every five minutes.
For example: "Hey Sam, come here for a moment." When the child comes, I get down to eye level and say in a very low, firm voice "We do NOT bite! Biting hurts! There is no biting. We do not bite our friends or mommy or daddy or brother or sister. Do you understand, Sam?" When the child acknowledges, I say "Okay, give me a squeeze! Now, go play!"
With big offenders, I may do this 25-30 times a day. It only takes 30 seconds of pre-teaching but saves a lot of time and tears when someone gets bit. If Sam would happen to bite or even thinks about biting, he would immediately go to the time-out corner and the whole way there, we would be having this same conversation. When time-out is over, the same conversation again.
If we, as providers got rid of every child who ever hit another child, bit another child, pulled hair, spit, pushed, threw toys or kicked another child, I guarantee that EACH child in our care would be looking for another daycare on a monthly basis. It is just irresponsible of providers/parents to "throw away" a child, simply because he commits a NATURAL, NORMAL, AGE APPROPRIATE act that will soon pass. If you can, be patient with this child AND your provider. I am certain that she is doing everything she can to make sure EVERY child in her care is safe, happy and well-loved. I know that the bite marks look terrible and the fact that it is YOUR child is totally disturbing. I am not discounting your feelings about that. I am also being realistic that you should expect biting to happen at daycare, along with an entire host of other offenses that are natural and normal in the progression of growing up.
In my opinion, if you are otherwise happy with your childcare provider and you feel that she truly loves your child and that your child is otherwise safe in her care, I would suggest that you not pull your child from care and not expect her to terminate the care of the other child either.
Off my soapbox now...please take my thoughts in the spirit in which they were given.
C.