ds aged 6 - need some help

[mum4575]

Think I need some help for my ds2 aged 6. Perfectly behaved at school but a nightmare at home. Loses temper very easily, throws things, runs away if we are out, lashes out at me, my dh and ds1 and ds3. Can be very aggressive. Where can I go for some help? Too old for HV I think? Don't think school will help because he is no problem at school? Do I have to go to GP? Thanks.

First thing i would do is keep a diary of any difficult/unusual behaviour, what caused it (if you know) and how you dealt with it, to show that you are parenting consistently.

When you have something concrete to tell your GP yes, that is the best place to start.

Good luck

You could go to the GP and ask for a referral to CAMHS if this has been going on for months rather than weeks. You'll probably have to push hard to get it as many people get told it's just a phase and the child will grow out of it. Are there any other signs that he's struggling apart from the aggression?

Does he have any difficulties in school that he can't express to the staff? Children who find school makes the very anxious often lash out at home because they don't feel safe enough to do it in school.

Can you think of anything which could be causing him high levels of anxiety?

Can you ask school to make a behaviour diary with a few agreed targets? Smiey faces for each part of the day thahe behaves? Worked a treat to show my ds2 how different his behaviour was between home and school, he gets rewards for a full day f smiles, has to explain to his teacher why he lost his temper with me and I feel more positive about this latest parenting challenge!!

Keep a diary. Ideally an ABC chart listing what happened just before th behaviour, details of the behaviour and then the consequence/what you or he did.

Thank you. I will definitelytry the diary idea and see how that goes. He does find it difficult to talk about things that are bothering him and does seem to bottle things up so will try to encourage him to tell me if something is bothering him.

Watching with interest - is your DS in Y2 and has he had SATs? I have just realised that my DS's (7) similar behaviour started 3-4 weeks ago and I am wondering whether that is it for him. I too will start keeping diary. Good luck.