Taking to Mumsnet, the desperate young mum asked what others thought of her plan.
She wrote: "DS [darling son] 3 is a biter. We have tried EVERYTHING to get him to stop.
"Final straw was the other day when he tried to bite his 3-month-old sister (he didn't manage to as I grabbed him). I had warned him last time he bit me that Santa would see and for every time he bit anybody from now on Santa would replace a present with a potato.
"He didn't listen, and tried to bite DD. I've told him that Santa has seen and one of his presents is now a potato.
"I HATE not following through on punishments. I'm inclined just to wrap up a potato and chuck it in his stocking and then when he opens it on Christmas Day remind him that he was warned.
"I'm not going to throw away any of his presents, so he's not actually going to miss out he will just think he has.
"DM [darling mother] and a few friends think I'm horrible. DH, DF and a few other friends think it's a great idea.
"WIBU [would it be unreasonable] to do this? I'm running out of ideas to get him to stop and I really am losing the will to live over it. Please feel free to also offer tips on how you stopped your child biting..."
Other parents backed the desperate mother, with some telling her she's gone beyond the point of no return and has to follow through.
One replied: "I think it's a good idea. As you say, he's not losing out on presents but he obviously doesn't really believe there will be consequences at the moment."
Another added: "Basically if you don't do it, you'll be utterly f*****. So you don't have much choice!"
One said: "My experience has been to NEVER threaten a punishment and fail to carry it out. You will lose credence. Empty words of warning are pointless and useless."
While some backed the mother, others said the memory will sit badly with him for life and that it's ok to allow him a good Christmas but still dish out the consequences in other ways.
One wrote: "No No No. Give him a break on xmas. But continue your good work parenting afterwards. He'll remember the xmas he had a potato all his life and I'm sure you don't want that."
Another added: "No! YABVU. Firstly at his age deferred punishments are not effective. Consequences need to be immediate for him to make any connection. Secondly it is not really teaching him why we don't bite. Thirdly it will put a downer on Christmas morning, when he might be behaving well. Just a really bad idea all round."
