anyone else have a 6 year old that hits and kicks when angry or frustrated?

[ponymaloney]

I am getting to my wits end with my 6 year old dd. She is a joy a lot of the time but she is very competitive and finds losing really hard, she's the youngest of 3. If she loses a game, or feels silly, or is the centre of attention for any reason, she loses its. On a good day she will 'just' burst into tears, on a bad day she will hit me or her sisters. I am hoping it will pass but after a really shocking display last night at a friend's house when she had a tantrum because she felt left out of a game that the others were playing, I am feeling a bit concerned. I sent her to bed when we got home and hopefully today will be better. Not sure how to handle it as top two girls never hit at all.

No wise words but my DSS (7) is the same. Watching with interest..

My DD used to go this when she was six. We used to gently, but firmly, remove her from the room so she could calm down by herself. It never worried me too much because I knew she was a good, kind girl at heart. She hit me in Waitrose once though and there was a huge, collective intake of breath from the old tweedies! She's nearly eight now and is a calm, gorgeous girl. I think it was when she was about when she turned seven that she really grew out of it.

That is so reassuring battleship. She is, at heart, incredibly thoughtful and sensitive, she can really take my breath away with her understanding. It is as if she just can't cope with strong emotions. I hope she will mature into them as it must be awful for her.

I'm so happy to hear that battleship - I have an almost 6 year old and in the last few months we've had some quite scary impressive tantrums including him kicking and hitting. He is generally a very sweet and kind boy with lovely manners etc and when he started kicking me in the school playground people couldn't believe that he was the same child. Since the end of term he's calmed down so much, the main problem appears to be the fact that the headteacher teaches his class one afternoon a week and he doesn't like having her as she can be (in his words) "really shouty"

My 7 yr old dd can be like this. Up until recently a calm, reasonable girl who bahaves reasonably well at home & impeccably when out. In social situations she is fine but at home gets frustrated and can't seem to control her mouth or her behaviour, she gets distressed about the smallest of things that she thinks make her look silly or babyish. I am hoping its a phase!