5 year old hitting younger children

[2boytrouble]

My 5 year old son is a nightmare at the moment and I am lost on what to do!

Every time my back is turned he will hit or poke or shake or kick the 2 year old, I'm stuck, I've punished him for this, I've done time outs and I've explained why he must not do it! But yet every time I turn back around he's up to something!

I can't leave him alone with the young ones any more! But what do I do to curb this behaviour! 4 months on and it's still happening! After a good cry myself today I feel completely depressed!

I wonder if it is an attention thing?

If so perhaps a good response would be to put him in a different room while you make a huge fuss of the little one. In other words show him he gets less attention not more by doing this.

Is it happening when there is eg a squabble over a toy, or just out of the blue/unprovoked?

By the way you might do better if you get this moved to Parenting...

First you need to work out why he's doing it. Is he wanting your attention, is he jealous, is the little one annoying him or provoking him? Is he tired, or hungry, or is it straight after school when he needs to decompress? Is he playing with the little one and getting too rough? Punishment alone isn't going to work, you need to find the cause and then change the dynamic.

How do I get this moved?

It may be an attention thing, though it is always unprovoked and always when he thinks he won't get caught!

I will definitely try your suggestion, thanks

To move it, press the Report button (top right corner of your post) and ask MNHQ to move it to Parenting.