Hysterical Mooning 3 year old

[littleacceb]

This is a bit of a two-parter, really.

DS is 3.3 and we've had it ridiculously easy with him, until almost exactly his third birthday. Defiance, inattention, pushing boundaries - all that seems to be completely normal stuff, but there are just a couple of things on which I could do with some advice/reassurance. We're really keen on the principles of HTTSKWL&LSKWT - consequence over punishment, etc. but don't want to raise a complete hooligan.

1. Hysteria. Sometimes when he does something "normal toddler naughty", when I tell him not to do it, he'll wind himself up and run around the room, cackling hysterically. There's no reasoning with him, and taking him to time out is utterly futile because he won't stay for more than a second. I've yelled, which sucks, but even that doesn't work because it simply switches the cackling to wailing.

1. Mooning. He is obsessed with getting his bottom out, pushing it towards people (or the camera when FaceTiming my mother) and often even farting. He thinks it's absolutely hilarious, and any attempt to ignore/dissuade him simply results in point 1 above.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Currently 7 weeks pg with number 3 and slightly worried...

Oh I'd be removing him from the space/activity/room every time he mooned. As for the hysterical cackling...what's he eating? My DD was like that every time she had red jelly or haribo so I've stopped her having any processed foods at all and she's so much calmer.

How is he socially with other DC? Language ok?

Taking him out of the situation is proving such an issue at the moment, what with him flailing and running around. Plus I feel like the fox, the chicken and the grain with a 1yo and a dog in an open-plan downstairs. Logically, it just makes the most sense to get him to a calm state by removing any kind of audience, so I'd welcome any tips to make him stay put!

He has a fairly boring diet, to be honest. Quite a lot of sugar from fruit but almost no added sugar. Most meals an assembly of unprocessed stuff. He's at nursery two days a week - it's the usual nursery "well... they tried" type of menu, and they serve pudding with lunch, but then nursery days aren't usually an issue.

But... That's self-reporting, so a food diary might be worth a try. Thanks :)

He's quite confident with others, and is just starting to properly play "with" rather than just "next to" them. His speech is in line with his peers at nursery. He occasionally stutters when excited, which DH and I picked up on because DFIL stutters.

DS2 had a problem with hitting so severe the nursery called in ed psych (long story... Nursery don't come out that well....) I found that my attempts at positive discipline were fuelling it. Any kind of talking about it made it worse. We absolutely stopped mentioning the behaviour in any context, positive or negative but instead would remove him to the corner of the room for a couple of minutes if he hit. (I found I had to hold him quite determinedly to get him to stay which felt awful)

Once we finally got nursery on board (against discipline policy to "punish" without explanation...) the behaviour was more or less instantly cured.

Might be worth a try with the mooning?

Is he getting enough physical play? He sounds massively energetic...my 6 year old DD is like that...we've finally worked out just how much she needs to keep her happy...she rides two miles to school and two back and after that she will still need a trip to the park and climbing....that just about does her...but if DH also takes her swimming then she's finally tired enough to chill out.

Deplorabelle - that's a really great point. I should imagine especially with his brother newly walking, any attention (such as talking at length about how bottoms are private) is welcome by him at the moment.

MrsW - it might be time to up the dog walks! He eats like a horse and is so scrawny - I just assumed that he was getting enough exercise. But there's obviously more to it than that.

So... that's the conclusion. Children are basically dogs. Praise the good, ignore the bad and give them a tonne of exercise.

Lol my DD is VERY like a dog! Like your DS she's scrawny, eats like a man and never stops moving. She literally has to be run down like a greyhound!