Our DS is 5, he’s a sweet, fun and caring boy but he has recently been having very frequent, aggressive outbursts. He has always struggled with regulating his emotions and triggers such as hunger, tiredness, embarrassment etc. always result in anger and has done from a very young age.
The tantrums and screaming and shouting episodes are manageable to an extent but the aggression is getting out of control. The smallest thing will make him flip and he will be trying to hit, bite, kick, throw things, screaming horrible things, for a significant amount of time (mostly to me, sometimes Dad and younger sister). You can’t do a thing with him until he eventually calms down, at which point he breaks down in tears and apologises. We have tried everything, consequences of taking toys/treats away. Talking calmly to him afterwards. Praising all good positive behaviour. Reading books. Ignoring it. But nothing seems to be improving and it’s having a huge impact on our family life.
School has no concerns, the outbursts are particularly bad after a day of school and him being on best behaviour.
Socially he is able to make lots of friends and loves playing, although he is often way too intense and sometimes rough. I often feel anxious about taking him to kids social events.
not sure on the purpose of the post, maybe some words of hope/advice of anyone that has been through similar…