I have a very angry 3 and a half year old boy. His attitude just stinks! He is nasty, he has started swearing, he hurts his 1 year old brother or tries to kick my belly (I'm 7 months pregnant), I'm losing my mind! I don't know what to do.
He got bad once his brother was born and it's just been getting worse since. I'm assuming it's a jealousy thing but I don't know why. We spend so much time with him.. Drop my youngest off at my mums so we can take him places, we go to the park quite often, we have his bedroom decked out with a desk and CD player, so he can have his alone time listening to his music, drawing, playing his trains, etc. He has a bunk bed that we have made into an awesome cubby. Nothing is good enough for this kid though. He has me at my breaking point! I'm a believer in not yelling as it doesn't solve anything but he has me screaming at him numerous times a day! He wakes up between 5.30-6am and refuses to go back to sleep. Please tell me there is light and the end of the tunnel. There is no way I can deal with this, a 1 year old and a newborn. I need help!
Angry 3 and a half year old.
Angry 3 and a half year old.
Posted in:
Behaviour
4 Replies
Time to get a referral to a developmental paediatrician and child psychologist. Your son needs help from professionals who can help you with a behaviour plan etc. it's important to get it sorted now as he grows it will become harder to get on top of.
3.5 is the WORST age & it does get better. Maybe he is ready for kindy or childcare (if he doesnt already go) also i would be taking things away from him, if he cant behave he does not deserve all the things he has. If he doesnt improve over time maybe have a look at foods that he is eating, i dont mean the normal "unhealthy" choices that people talk about but also intolerances for wheat dairy and even fruits.
Good luck It will get better.
When my Son gets angry he tries to hurt me, his sister or himself. I think to some point this is "normal" but he also has good times where he helps his sister and plays with her. When he gets angry I usually give him a timeout in his room. He has to sit down and wait until he is allowed to come back out. He also has to appologise. Sometimes all he wants to do is to pick a fight with me and after the big clash (with yelling and timeout) he seams to feel better at more calm.
I don't think it is about things he has or doesn't has gratefulness is not part of the concept of most children. They just want to have more and more to the breaking piont. With my son, giving him clear boundries has helped so far. If he swears I would siply ignore it. He does it just to make you jump and when he hits I would give him timeouts and take things of him (a toy ect) and he has to behaeve to get it back.
When it comes to sleep the only thing you can do is to wait till he grows our of it. My son sometimes still wakes up during night screeming for me and until about 6 monthes ago he would get up at 5-6 in the morning every day. I think they all grow out of that and there is not much you can do. I offer my kids to lay down in my bed on days where I am to tired to get up with them.
The other thing I try to do is, to praise him for good behaevior and ignor bad (to some point). The idea is to give him more feedback and attention when he is goot then when he is bad.
A lot of these responses make me cringe! My suggestion would be to do some research into Positive Parenting. If you look up "Positive Parenting without Punishment" and "Positive Parenting, Toddlers and Beyond" here on facebook, you will be opened up to a world of possibilities and positive strategies for moving forward with your little person. Good Luck