We have a 4 1/2 year old boy, who is going through some issues with discipline. In the past he's had normal kid behavior problems, nothing we were concerned about though. Typical things like not wanting to go to bed, stop playing, etc. No biggie. In the last several weeks though, it's like a switch has been turned on, and he's been out of control, mostly at school. Some examples of things that are happening...He'll be at school playing with a favorite toy during recess. When he's asked to put it away he'll say no, and refuse to. As teachers try to explain to him about good listening / why he needs to, he gets more defiant. This turns into him saying things like "I don't care" and "It doesn't matter". He'll refuse to listen, and even run circles around the classroom to avoid them. The more they try to stop him, the worse it gets. This can go on for 10 to 20 minutes before he snaps out of it.He recently started hitting and kicking at school. When I ask him about it, he says he was hit first, but I have doubts about that. Yesterday his teacher told me he saw him hitting another student. She pulled him aside and talked to him about it. He said okay, but then went right over to to the kid, looked directly at the teacher and THEN hit the student again. He was separated from the rest of the class, and still refused to listen about smaller things (stay seated, don't play with that toy, etc)He's acting like a teenager in the way he responds to us suddenly - "ugghh, fine" "I don't care" and phrases like that.We've had no changes in home life, my wife and I rarely fight in front of the kids. He has a younger sister, but he's amazing with her and we make a concerted effort to make sure they get as equal as attention as we can. In terms of how we react to his behavior, we've tried:Trying to deescalate and just talk to him about his behavior, without punishing.Sticker chartsTaking away toysTaking away activitiesMaking him do chores as punishmentConstantly reminding him about what proper good behavior is, and how we never hit or kick, what being respectful is, etc. A broken record of this, trying to ingrain it in his head.None of this is working so far.We did a doctor appointment, and she had zero concern about his development, she only suggested we see a child therapist. We're calling one today, but in meantime we're dreading getting a call from school saying we need to come get him. I've found some older threads with parents who've faced similar problems, but doesn't seem like anyone ever really posted what, if anything helped. Anyone else go through anything similar? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2MFzedU
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