Advice about my 3 year old!

[nemo81]

My 3 year old has always been highly strung but as he is getting older his behaviour is becoming worse. I don't know whether its just the way he is, a hard work child or if he needs to be seen by a doctor or what.

Maybe i am over reacting?

He can sit still quietly for a little while to watch a TV programme but most of the time likes to play. Alone. God forbid one of his siblings interferes, he will scream high pitched and even when i've dealt with the situation he will carry on screaming for ages. The only way to stop him is to give in with something he wants.

Meal times are tricky. He has a limited diet. He will only eat the same things everyday. Despite always having cooked a variety of meals for everyone, including him. His diet right now consists of weetos for breakfast, chocolate spread sandwich for lunch, wotsits, cookies and a dinner of potatoes, sweetcorn and carrots or a pasta type dish (spag bol, pasta bake). He will not eat meat other than mince in the spag bol. He will not eat other veg other than those mentioned and he will not touch fruit at all. If i offer him other foods not on his safe list he will refuse it, screaming yuck.

Then theres the violence. He is so violent towards his little sister who is only 19 months. All i do all day is tell him off for hitting the baby, either punching her or hitting her with toys. I tell him not too and put him on the naughty step. He smirks at me. When i ignore him he will start one of his major tantrums. It will go on and on for ages until i have to give him something he wants to stop him.

When he has been told off for doing something he will throw toys around or at me. He hits me and his older siblings. It just never stops.

Then theres this noise he does. Like a roar if people go near him.

I know its hard to compare him to his siblings but none of them have never been like this. Would you suggest i need to discuss his behaviour with a professional? Now i'm reading it back it doesn't sound too bad but when i'm dealing with it all day every day i'm finding it hard to cope with him.

[nemo81]

Oh and i must add, he has no sense of danger! I've had to bolt up the front door after he opened it and escaped. He is constantly trying to escape out of the door. He is also very clumsy. Forever falling over his own feet and banging his head.

When he has a tantrum he runs around the round screaming, stamping his feet and flapping his arms about.

[nemo81]

Reading all that back it sounds like i'm picking holes in him. I'm really not. I love this little boy but i'm worried for him. I guess i just want someone to come along and say, oh he is fine and will grow out of this. He is such a bright boy and i want to make sure i am not missing anything but it seems silly to go the doctor and say he only eats x, y and z and is clumsy. She'll just send me away as that sounds like most other 3 year olds right?!

[Sirzy]

I think it's well worth discussing your concerns with you GP and/or HV and asking about a refferal to a developmental pead. It may be nothing but at the same time it will do no harm to start the process of asking for help and may open up more support for you.

Write a list of all your concerns, give it to the dr and then take it from there

[nemo81]

Thank you for your replies. Yes his roar/growl is usually a warning sign that he will kick off if whoever is near him doesn't move away.

He was a little slower in regards to speech but again that is comparing him to his siblings. I do have a couple of concerns about how he talks though which i forgot about. He talks with a lisp which i know is common in young children but he also spits when he talks, its hard to describe but its like there is a lot of saliva in his mouth when he talks and along with his lisp makes his speaking sound wet/spitty. I really don't know how to describe it so i hope you understand what i mean.

The dilemma i'm having is, i am due to move house in about two weeks. Shall i see the doctor we have now or should i wait until we move to the other side of the Borough and see the new doctor we will need to register with?

[Sirzy]

I would provably wait until you are at the new GP for the sake of 2 weeks.

I split my list of concerns into sub headings - so all the communication issues together, mobility issues together etc. Just to try to organise things a bit.