My six year old DD has started hitting me

[madelineashton]

Help!

My DD was six in June (year 2) she's always been fairly "spirited"and we do have quite a firey relationship. We are extremely close (single Mum) and love each other dearly.

I have always used "time outs" which generally have worked and she is a good kid. But just recently her behaviour (only at home - not at school or at her Dads) has become pretty much unmanageable. We go from hugging and kissing to full throttle rows at the drop of a hat. I'm embarrassed to say that as I've always been of the supernanny school of parenting... you know, not engaging in an arguement, calmly explaining my expectations etc. But I know find myself arguing with her like I used to argue with my own mother when I was 14 or 15!!

Over the last few days it has escalated and she is now hitting me. She slapped me round the face with a toy, thrown a hairbrush at me, slapped my arm, and kicked me in the shin. All in the space of a couple of days. I put her in time out but she seemed to find it funny.

What should I be doing?

My dd was 6 in august, and we too have had some impressive meltdowns recently. Maybe is is a boundary pushing phase? I think that all you can do is be consistent.

My DD did this and IMO I didn't come down hard enough on it right at the start and it's still a problem now she's 8. In the summer holidays she slammed my head in a door. When it started I put it down to fall out from a very difficult year that we'd had as a family and let it go to a certain extent when in fact I should have had a serious no tolerance policy right from the off.

Now if she hits me or hurts me in any way there's no discussion and she's sent to her room until she can apologise sincerely.

I have threatened to cancel her birthday party (and would have done too) and last week she used the cat to hurt me (tormented it whilst holding it then got it to scratch me) so that she could say that the cat hurt me rather than her. She had friends round at the time and she was sent outside and not allowed to play with them anymore for the rest of the time they were there.

Hope this helps. Obviously I can only give advice based on what I should have done for my DD - maybe others will have better / alternative suggestions. Good luck!

Thanks for that. I feel completely out of my depth!

Hi Madeline, you could be me. I am also a lone parent with a 6 year old dd whom is testing my parenting skills! See my thread from this evening in the relationships section...
For me, it's not so much hitting, but having meltdowns, answering back and saying horrible things.

Omg you could all be me ! My 6 year old DD is the same.. Pushing her luck big time.. She had me in tears last weekend because she was that hideous. She doesn't attack me but my poor DH gets it !
We've tried to change the way we speak to her, trying (and I mean trying lol) to keep calm, not raising to her behaviour, doing timeout we've also stopped giving her anything with aspartame in it (the artificial sweetener) the teacher told us that there's been tests to show it can affect behaviour, for the last 2 weeks she's had nothing but water and I don't know if its coincidence but its really changed her behaviour !! I feel for you op.. Stay strong with it all it's obviously just a phase they are all going through !!