My 8 yr old ds said "mummy I can't stop myself when I get angry" how can I help him?

[passmyglassplease]

Hi all,

I have 2 dcs a dd 11yrs and a ds 8 yrs, one of them is an absolute angel and the other one is the devil in disguise, can you guess which one is the devil?

Thought so, its not hard is it?

I am at my wits end with him, I don't shout at him, I remain calm and inform him that he has x amount of time to finish/complete what he is doing, ie watching tv, it all makes no difference, he kicks off as soon as the tv has been switched off, or nintendo put away etc throwing things and being generally ill behaved.

What can I do to help him control himself?

I throw myself at the mercy of mumsnet, help me solve this problem.

Or he could be up for adoption

I know you all may think i'm a bit weird . but my DH!! is often bad tempered and he has discovered he's allergic to wheat!! it makes him really angry. Perhaps you could give yr ds's rice or rye non-wheat crackers or corn chips etc.
(you have to read the labels 'cos wheat is in SO many things!) It's worth giving it a go!!
good luck!

My 5 year old ds doesnt play on a ds/psp or hand held thing. (my 16 year old and 13 year old do)

Anyway, my 5 year old ds, has special needs and recently has started to pick and scratch at his face resulting in sores. So i used one of my older boys psp's to keep his hands busy to stop him. I really noticed a change in his behaviour, my usual well behaved, helpful, passive little boy, turned into the opposite while playing it and for a short period afterwards as well!

However, my 5 year old does have a ps2, but he only plays on it, if i play with him on 2 player games and he remains my well behaved, helpful, passive little boy while playing on it and afterwards as well!

So im wondering whether it is your attention or lack of it, as we all tend to let them get on with it on the hand held games?

or whether it is about how regularly they play on it and the amount of time they spend playing on it? (Ds and i dont play on the ps2 often, thank god, its so boring!)

Well I have bought a timer just for him, he seems rather excited by it!

We haven't had time to test it out as yet, as he is currently on a nintendo ban.

But it looks like tonight could be the night for turning the tv on. Gosh, even I am getting excited at the thought of telly again, how sad am I!!!!

I have also taught him the deep breath and blow the candles out technique which he thinks is rather funny, lets see if he manages to put it into practice?

watch this space for adoptions notices

Passmyglass, timers are brilliant i use them a lot with 5 year old ds.

He even goes and gets it and times me, when i say i will play with him in a minute and holds me to it!

Good luck

Just to update, no tantrums so far since the DS's were taken away.

ooh well done bigtillymint, progress at least.

last night we switched of the tv after the allotted time and he seemed fine with it, but then went into a tantrum 5 mins later over something else!

He may have been just tired, so its worth giving it another shot next week, as he is not here for the rest of the weekend.

my ds is 7 and sounds similar, but we have started using a technique from a book called 1 2 3 magic, recommended on mumsnet somewhere, and it does seem to be helping with him and his little brother, it is certainly making me feel calmer and more in control