My son is 2 years old and I have been at home since I was six months pregnant with him. Now here is my problem, my son has a huge attitude. He is mean to everyone, his sister, his dad, me, grandparents, I mean everyone. He hits, kicks, and pushes. He will throw himself down on the ground and just start screaming and kicking, and he'll stay like that for about 20-30 minutes before he gets up. He has really made me start thinking that I don't want to have any more kids because of the way he acts. I've tried everything I can think of to try with him, I've put him in the corner, I've ignored his fits, I've put him in his room and shut the door, nothing works for him. He is a wonderful kid to be around sometimes, if you get him all alone he is pretty good, but not always. He wants what he wants when he wants it and that is what causes him to throw these fits. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm really at a loss as what to do.
one thing you might look at is flax seed. It has been shown that kids that have temper tantrums or ADD have done extremely well when put on this. Our son constantly would hit himself and since being put on flax seed he has decreased this activity trememdously. You can find pill form and liquid (of course the liquid tastes nasty but you can add it to his food without him even knowing.
Could he have a chemical imbalance? Talk to your pediatrician about this first, to rule out any medical issues.
Good luck!
I am in agreement with Carol. First thing first and you need to make an appointment with his Dr. If the medical aspect of it is cleared. Then you need to set some strict boundries. At that age a timeout chair is what I recommend. You must be strict with it and it needs to include a timer. I have 3 boys and a daughter. 2 of my boys have this same thing. The consistancy is of the upmost importance. Hope this helps you.
Hi B., It is a relief to meet someone that has the same issues with their toddler. My daughter is 19 months old and she does alot of the same stuff you are talking about. She likes to hit when she is mad. Unfortunately I am the one that she hits. I think that the reason our babies act out like that is because they know that no matter what we are going to love them and they feel safe when they are mean to us. I can only pray that my Sarah will grow out of it.I wish you all the best. N.
I agree that you should see your pediatrician and go from there. Twos and threes are really hard years, but his behavior does sound a bit more than just the terrible twos. The anger part is sad and sounds more than just the normal control thing he should be going through. I have a four year old who will get really angry and grumpy and although this sounds corny and like I'm spoiling him, I will just lavish him with love and attention. Having 4 kids, they can get lost in the shuffle and they have their own way of letting me know it. This is not to say that I let him get away with bad behavior, because I don't. But when the time out is over, then it's ok to smother him with hugs and love. Good luck.
Hi B. S.
I want to tell you that I do also have a 3 year old daughter very bossy and pretty much she want to do what she wants. This is new to me because my son was not like that he was very easy going and a good kid. I have talked to a lot of people about kids behaviors and they narrow it to a couple of things.
The first thing is you need to see what kind of nutrition you are giving your son. Lots of the foods for kids have lots of sugar that truly the human body does NOT need. for example Juice, cereal, canned fruit, even milk has glucose. In addition if your son likes candy, chocolate milk, cookies, etc that is even worse. You need to cut down on sugar and more natural fruits and vegetables, but if you do that for your son, then you need to do that for the whole family because he can not just sit and watch. Reducing the sugar intake will help with his attitude. Sugar gives him too much energy that the body does not know what to do with it and then the doctors call it ADD.
Second, is what you do with his behavior and the interactionwith your son. For example I spoil my daughter so much and she always gets her way, but this is wrong to an extreme. When your son has the episodes dont make a big deal of it, because he is doing it to get your attention and when he does he wins. So, just talk to him and let him know you dont appreciate what he does. Let him know there will be consequences for what he does and stick to it when he is mean to other people. Teach him to say sorry and eventually it will get a little better. Spend quality time with your son and give him attention when he is not having his episodes.
I am going thu the same thing with my daughter and she is getting a little better, and it is very hard to discipline her because I love her and dont want her to cry, but some times we have to be stronger and dont always give in. In the long run it will be a lot better.
I hope this helps :(
I'll tell you what I am doing with my 18 month old "very spirited" son. Time outs. He started the hitting/kicking behavior at about 14 months. In the beginning I put him in time out at probably 15 times a day. I had to hold hime in time out once or twice. He would be in time out for one minute. I did this for over a month before I saw results. Just today he went to hit me and stopped himself. I realized he hadn't hit or kicked in several weeks. Every kid is different though.
When he is tantruming I just lay him down on a soft surface and go about my daily buisness. I completely ignore the behavior. Seems to be working so far.
My four year old daughter was nothing like this so I am learning too.
Good Luck!
I think it's key to find out why he acts this way. This website will help you determine how you both feel about his behavior
http://lifematters.com/step.asp
It sounds like he gets a pay off of attention. After all he's 2 and they love to be the center of attention.
We work on making good choices versus bad choices.
At this point all you can do is take things away but you gotta make sure that he can earn them back. Plus he needs a daily time where he knows you will give him undivided attention.
