Wow. There is so much I can say on this.

I’ve checked out the link the first person provided, and suggest you read it and the 4 linked articles. Essentially, it appears that she was overwhelmed by feelings she could not express, was limited in how to cope with them, and so expressed them physically. It fits with the pattern of “If we don’t talk it out, we act it out”, and is in some ways little different from a child hitting when they feel overwhelmed and can't express themselves. She just acts in rather than out. You might even want to read up on kids hitting when they can’t express and see if you find anything helpful there.

I’d say that she has difficulty either expressing and/or identifying her emotions. You can help her with this by making sure that she is encouraged both verbally and non-verbally to talk about her feelings. Some children need a very safe and nurturing environment to express their feelings. If there is a family ideology (ex: conflict and anger are always bad and can not have good results) that would make her feel she won’t be believed or that you won’t like her for what she says, you’ll want to address this. As for helping her identifying her feelings, there are many ways to do this. Two suggestions: you can use feeling charts and ask her to show which faces she’s feeling like. You can also ask, “are you feeling ____ or maybe ______?”  Also, matching words to your own feelings such as saying “I feel disappointed because I didn’t get to go shopping today” teaches her that the complex pattern of how you are feeling and behaving can be connected with the term “disappointed”. Most children who have the words and an environment which welcomes disclosure will talk about their feelings and what is happening in their lives. By being able to express herself, she won’t feel so overwhelmed by her feelings that she has to express them physically.

I’d also suggest teaching healthy coping mechanisms, so that she has healthy ways of expressing this feeling. It shouldn’t be hard to find resources on line. I think this is just of version of how many people are comfort eaters, or grind or clench their teeth under stress. So offer a totally different way of expressing herself, like drawing, or an appropriate object to bite or chew such as beef jerky.

Hi Tee,

I am soory that your litle one is going through this stage as not only can it be scary for you but beleive it or not the childsometimes find themselves a little confused about it too . . Mostly they do this to themselves out of sheer frustration or anger . . It's a little like "self harm' but not quite as severe . . 

I recently had to attend a seminar on this as its being seen more and more these days due to some of the strains etc that are involved with children in today's society .  This is NOT because the parent has done or not done something ..

Anyway here  is a link to some info and coping stratagies that youmay find useful  . . . CLICK HERE  . . I hope that things begin to settle down soon.

Cheers Kellz

i wouldn't be concerned if she  biten herself and just said 'i just wanted to see what it feels like', or 'i don't know' then this would be normal but for her to say what she said that would definately worry me.go and see child health nurse and they will put you onto achild pshycologist/pshyciatrist.good luck

Hi yes my daughter nearly three has done the same and it's coming from frustration and they don't quite know how to express it. Try finding out if there is anything on Kat's mind that may be troubling her.

Good luck my dear!