How can we get our 1-year-old to stop biting the kids at day care?

I have a 1-year-old who is biting the children at nursery. He doesn't do this at home. He's an only child. What can we do to get him to stop?

Biting is very common behaviour at this age. Children start to do it as a type of exploratory behaviour - it's part of learning with their mouth - trying to learn about their parents or other children. It may also feel good if he's teething; the counter-pressure from biting may relieve the pain in his gums. Biting often happens when a child is overwhelmed or overexcited. The trouble is that everyone around him gets excited and angry when he does this, thereby reinforcing the negative behaviour. He doesn't know it's bad by all the fuss, but he picks up on the commotion, gets overexcited and repeats it. If everyone can negatively reinforce it, it will pass more quickly. That means, when he bites someone, put him down quietly, saying "No one likes to be bitten", and walk away. Being ignored is one of the most difficult things a child this age can experience so it's a quiet way of saying, "I can't let you do this."