Jnr FD has just turned 5. We never had the terrible 2’s and he has always been quite a calm kid.

For the last few weeks though in the evenings especially he has started hitting and kicking Mrs FD and myself, completely at random. Its kind of in a playfull way, but he will do it when you are not expecting it. He doesnt realise how strong he is and it does hurt.

We have asked why he is doing it and he says he doesnt realise he is. We have calmly told him off, tried naughty step, restraining etc etc. Most times it ends up with either Mrs FD or me getting cross with him and then lots of tiers.

Is it just a phase thing that he needs to get through?

One thing we did notice is that at birthday parties we have gone to recently, all the boys are playing ‘super heroes’ which basically means them kicking and thumping each other. We stopped them doing it, but other parents said, laughed and just said thats what boys do…. until their kid would get injured.

Both Grandparents have/are ill at the minute. My Dad recently had a Hernia operation, and my Mum is under going cancer treatment, but he says it isnt bothering him.

We are just frustrated as this is out of character for him. Any ideas?

Ta

I’m in the let them play camp/ it’s what boys do

But as such I get punched in the nuts every time I come home and walk through the front door by my almost 5 year old…. That’s OK… I’ll chase him around the house and make sure he gets a little one back 😈 :lol:… and I remind him I am the ONLY person he can do it too.

If he lands one on mum or his big sis he’s in trouble.

Really don’t think there are any reasons/causes for it… boys are just more physical …. get involved have a “BUNDLE”

cartoons on the ipad?

our 3.5 yr old starting lumping everything, traced it back to watching Donald Duck. It’s basically 10 mins of non stop punching, hitting on the head, kicking etc.

empathy can be a bit mixed up at 5. a mixture of teaching empathy, discipline and giving him an outlet is my worthless advice.

I’d say it’s just one of those things. I’ve got 3 boys (one’s only a baby mind), the older 2 (6 and 4 1/2) definitely got more physical after starting school. I’m well versed in the art of deflecting the random bollock punch 🙂

Wear him out a bit, that’ll help

Do it back

It’s the only way he’ll learn!

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/behaviour_development/755448-Do-5-year-old-boys-have-a-testosterone-surge-at

Google gives this, nephews were pretty punchy until a few months ago 5 and a bit now, big lads too so kept my distance so didn’t get a kicking 😉

Whenever one of ours would lash out, I’d act really hurt (even if it didn’t, when it sometimes did). They realised what they’d done, and they were sorry. May not work on all kids though.

We try not to make the parent/kid relationship too adversarial. I have a feeling a lot of these timeout/punishment/naughty step tactics do just that.

Otherwise – you could always get a punchbag.

pictonroad – Member

cartoons on the ipad?

our 3.5 yr old starting lumping everything, traced it back to watching Donald Duck. It’s basically 10 mins of non stop punching, hitting on the head, kicking etc.

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One of my friends eldest son started punching/kicking his younger brother, which they traced back to Ben 10, likewise they stopped him watching it. He now does kickboxing with his dad but still seems to think his brother/mum/dad should test out his training moves…

Probably a phase. when he does, tell him not to, and that he shouldn’t do it again. Reinforce this message every time he does it.

Is he at school? could be that that’s the “thing” in the playground at the minute, or it could be just frustration at something, kids don’t have the “emotional intelligence” to deal with issues another way other than crying, screaming, hitting etc. There’s probably not a massive issue, it’s just that they have a very narrow repertoire of responses.

Part of a phase (if it’s playful) then wear them out with a bit of play wrestling – my boys used to love it until they got too big for me to not get hurt without hurting them.

Boys are like dogs at that age – plenty of exercise otherwise they’ll tear the house apart.

If it’s an anger reaction then a bit of a
“if you think you’re big enough to hit mum do you want to try me out? I’ll hit you back as hard as you hit me” shouting worked.
I’ve never had to hit him.
Now he’s 17 I don’t think I’d last.