9yo DS has violent mood swings

[shazbon]

my DS is 9 and for the past 12 months he has started to have alot of mood swings, some of which are violent.

I put it down to hormones and growing up but now I am not so sure.

I can't tell him off at all without him flying off the handle and cries about everything even if he isn't able to save his game on his nintendo ds.

Please can people let me know if this is normal behaviour or do I need to get help for him?

I have an 8 yo DS and he can go nuts like you describe, not all the time, mainly when tired or fed up about school (he's dyslexic and find it tough going some days).

DH got him a punchbag thing from Argos that he can kick and punch when feeling frustrated or angry. I thought it would make him more agressive but it has had the total opposite effect, it's a place where he can vent his frustations and he is better for it.

For my DS he needs to understand more the need for patience, what it is and how to use it, instead of going from zero to freak out with no inbetween. Also when he wants to be alone from his younger brother to have some time to play, he tells me and I make sure his younger brother does not bug him. He is also getting better and seeing the other side of something and not being so adamant that he is always right.

I have also spent more one on one time with him to talk, we went for a long walk the other day, talked about the trees, laughed about the girls at school, then went for a Happy Meal and he gave me a massive hug on the way home.

So just some Ideas I tried, mostly given to me by a friend of the family who had five boys who are all now grown up and all fabulous so there must be something in it!

Everlast Inflatable Punch Bag from Argos £14.99

My son has mood swings when he has been bullied again at school.

Your ds must be the twin of mine.

He is nearly 10 and has extreme mood swings. I am actually going on a parenting course next month as I am finding it very hard to cope with his behaviour and I suspect that I am doing things wrong. On one hand he is young and having a short fuse may be his personality but on the other, he was similar as a toddler and pre-schooler and I thought he'd grown out of it. (He was very low maintenance from age 4-8)

He tends to be fine when I spend one on one time with him so I try to make time for him so that he can have a break from his moods.

Thank you very much everyone, at least now I know that he is not the only one who does it.

Also some good ideas to vent the frustration with a more positive result than trashing his room.

Thank you again it has been very helpful.

My 9.9 DD has real mood swings. If she gets low blood sugar she is foul, the problem is she doesn't seem to recognise hunger so me and DH have to look out for the signs (not too difficult), and intervene with a snack.

These are all very helpful comments - thank you, I also have a 10 year old DS whose behaviour can be very unpredictable and difficult.

Crazy - where did you find out about the parenting course?

The local Children's Centre is running the course.