To physically restraint a six year old

[ReallyTired]

My son has nits. He completely refused to co operate with having his hair fine tooth combed. We got him to sit on the naughty step for six minutes and still did not cooperate.

In the end my husband pinned him down and I fine tooth combed his hair with conditioner. We removed loads of the wretched things.

I sent my son to bed early as a punishment for non co operation.

You were unreasonable to punish him, but not for holding him down.

I used to have to pin dd2 down as a toddler to administer her inhaler, and again when she was 6/7 to stop her washing her hands (she had ocd).

RT if he was really being abnoxious and you where at the end of your limit then you did the right thing by sending him to bed early.

I completley sympathise, I have a 5 yr old who can be very obnoxious and stubborn and deliberately annoying at times and it really does try your patience doesn't it!

Wish you had put all that in your OP ReallyTired. You sounded a bit hard and cold in your inital one, it makes more sense now you have explained things. I'd got visions of some screaming frightened child, not one who thought it was funny.

Serves me right for having an overactive imagination.

My friends DC get excited if they have to be nit combed not because they like it but because it is done in front of a DVD with some treats to distract.

Friend thought at one point they were seeking our nit infected children and rubbing up against them as every week they said "mummy I'm itchy and XXX said they had a special shampoo last week"

"He should co operate without needing restraint. He just saw being pinned down as a game and laughed when his father held him down. Sending him to bed early was less funny and hopefully will act as a deterrant for the future. I also think if I had not sent him to bed then I would have ended up smacking him as he was being really obnoxious."

Well, isn't your problem rather than his?

I quite agree with your restraining him, but punishing him because you wanted to smack him sounds perhaps just a tad unreasonable: the punishment should be for the actual naughtiness, not for your reactions to it.

Still, I can understand where you're coming from and I don't suppose much damage has been done. Nits do need removing. The other parents wouldn't thank you for not getting the job done.

Pehaps a little ott with the further punishment - but to be honest, we have to hold DS down to cut his toenail -he's 3.6 and kicks and screams and WILL not let you cut them - it takes both of us to do them, and often he gets told off after as well. He is old enough to understand that he needs to have them done, and old enough to know not to kick.

Don't fret. Children can be little devils sometimes - only troulbe is now he's had a tonne of attention from you for something that ought to be fairly minor - I speak from experience - toenails really shouldn't be a big thing, but I thin he revels in the "fight". I understand the principle, that then sending him to bed early takes the fun out of the fight. Fair enough.

I have had to physically restrain my DS1 (3) to get antibiotics into him. Not a pleasant experience, but necessary. No amount of hiding in chocolate/bribing etc.. was working. Nightmare.

It gets the job done quickly. He knew full well what he was doing, understood why he needed the medicine, but was a stubborn little so-and-so, and would clamp his mouth shut,... grinning(!)

All I did once task was accomplished would say rather off-hand "thank you, all done, not so bad was it?", and then just walk off and do something else.
No treats, no punishments (I think the nit comb/medicine is punishment enough quite frankly), just nothing. Done. Over.

Sometimes reasoning just is not going to work.

Oh, well my son cooperated with the nit combing tonight. He sat still and was angelic. I gave him an extra story before bed.

I only found 4 nits. Its a great improvement on the 30 we had yesterday.

I am looking forward to the holiday and weeks without him getting constantly reinfected.