6 Year Old Son's Bad Behavior

It's age. My son is the same, every now and then he loses it. They are still working on managing their temper and since they are much more independent at 6, they hate to not have control on eveything around them. Growing pains... for the parent! Be patient and redirect his frustration by making him laugh. It works wonder with my little pythecanthropus!

Umm... could it be the same as another post I saw in just the last few days? :

It's the end of the school year. Kids get emotional this time of year.

If he is going thru a growth spurt, he could suddenly need more sleep than he needed two months ago. Try putting him to bed 30 minutes earlier, you wont see a change immediately, do it EVERY night for two weeks and see if you notice a change. It's hard to fit it in the schedule but it will be worth it.

Any new meds? I know for a fact that this behavior can come from allergy meds...

This is what most 6 year olds do. This is a big changing time of life for them. there is lots of inner conflict. Some educators call it the first puberty. This is how dramatic it can be. (you may want to read what I wrote to the mom about her child being a worse listener)
Get the book You're Not the Boss of Me, I think it's by Besty Brown Braun.

You said he was sweet so he's probably not a strong willed child. It doesn't sound like it. At five children are ususally delightful and sweet and around 6/7 theres a big change. Because so much is changing inside of them. Don't do a lot of talking or scolding or punishing, direct him in a positive way. Hold your ground, this is imperative. Please get the book, I'm almost certain you'll find it can help a lot.

Hope all goes well and this helps.

Try reading "The Explosive Child" by Dr. Ross Greene. It helped us a lot with our youngest who started having some major tantrums around age 6. I've been in that spot that there isn't any punishment threat great enough or incentive big enough when she has reached her boiling point. My youngest DD spend much of the summer between K and 1st grade with loss of privileges. We were all pretty sad what we were doing just wasn't working. Those traditional techniques don't work with all kids, so I understand your frustration. We are doing much better now using the collaborative parenting approach that book advocates.

I would definitely talk to his doctor about this. If it came on suddenly and dramatically and he was ok before I would have him medically evaluated. Can you think of anything like a head injury that might have happened? Also, I saw a change in my son's behavior from taking Singular. Is he on this or any other medication?

If it has happened suddenly, make sure that there are no adults "treating" him the wrong way. (if you know what I mean). I would ask him if any adults have been mean to him or has done anything to him that he didn't like.
You never know....got to cover ALL of your basis.......
Good luck!

I think you need to sit down with him and have a real talk. Tell him a story. Tell him that he and his friend were walking down the road and found he found a cool rock. His friend had a hissy-fit, screaming and crying and acting like a big baby. His friend's mom had to take him home and put him in his room.

Ask him why his friend would act like a little 3 year old. Let him tell you what he thinks about your story.

T., you need to start giving him hard consequences for these outbursts. When he calms down, take a precious toy or usual privilege away. Tell him that the more he does this, the more you will take away.

What you described about him doing to his friend is rather serious. You need to stop allowing this by punishing him for it.

Dawn