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I think your son is way too young to deal with bullies on his own. I don't think it's an issue of him "talking clearly" - what do you think he should have been able to say?

I would step in as the grownup; they are all very young children.

Pushing doesn't automatically mean bullying. Young toddlers are physical. And every child has the potential to be a biter, especially younger children who can't express their emotions or control a situation. I am sorry this happened to your son. But one incident doesn't mean he was being bullied. And it is possible he could have bitten the child who pushed him (or another child).

At the library today I noticed a llama llama book about bullying. I haven't read it but that might be a way to help your son understand what happened. I also agree that you need to be the grown up in some way. If you didn't want to make a scene at the moment, you could explain to the coach afterwards that you saw some aggressive behavior by this other child toward your child and ask them to keep an eye on it. I would also ask them hoe they want you to respond if it happens again so that you are all on the sane page. I would also suggest not using the word "bullying" but talk specifically about the behaviors. Good luck!

@irene: I still think he (and the "bullies") are all too young to deal with it on their own; it *is* appropriate for you, and other parents, to step in at this age. I don't think it's appropriate to expect toddlers to handle either side of complex social interactions on their own.

FWIW, we are dealing with a sort of similar situation and my LO does speak extremely clearly. At daycare, there is a little boy (both LOs are just over 2 years old, so roughly the same age as your LO) and he is very fixated on my daughter. Every morning he rushes over to her and will not leave her alone - - he yanks the pacifier out right out of her mouth, takes away whatever toy from home she is holding and sometimes pushes or hits her. He doesn't do this with any other child; only my LO and he is relentless about it. She tells him, CLEARLY, to "stop" and holds up her hand when he approaches. She says "no, thank you!" and "no!" and "stop!" when he is prying the pacifier out of her mouth. She is verbally extremely clear with him - - it makes no difference. Because he is also a young child. He isn't going to respond and reason to her words like an adult; he is a *child*. I have also told him "no" etc. and it doesn't phase him - which doesn't surprise me; that's a young child. I don't expect my LO to handle this on her own - and I don't expect him (the little boy) to listen to her and reason out a response because he is a child as well.

It is my responsibility to step in at this age; and in our situation I went to the administration of our daycare. LO's teachers are great and respond when they see this behavior (and they say it only happens at dropoff when I am there; who knows), but sometimes there was only 1 teacher at dropoff, and 2 were needed to watch this one boy and his interactions with my daughter. So I complained to the administration and now there are always 2 teachers at dropoff; and 1 redirects him at dropoff until he is fully engaged in other activities. A week of having 1:1 redirection and he is already much better.

Bottom line is I just don't think this is the age at which to expect your son to "defend" himself and deal with things on his own. He's a toddler. The "bullies" you're dealing with are only slightly older toddlers; none of them reason and react like adults, because they aren't adults. They aren't even children, they are toddlers. I don't think you should put this on your son, it isn't appropriate to expect toddlers to defend themselves or protect themselves more than what their basic instincts tell them to do - - which often times is to bite or yell. At this age, regardless of how clearly he speaks, it is your responsibility to be his voice.