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Over sensitive 5 year old!

13 replies

plopplopquack · 25/03/2011 16:15

HELP! My just turned 5 year old is driving me crazy! She's lovely, kind, clever girl but she's always been extremely over emotional, meladramatic etc.

Sometimes it's worse then at others but this last week she has been wailing (I'm mean really sudden out of the blue over the top extremely loud wailing!) about everything! Just now she asked me to turn up the tv, I said I would in a minute, so she asked again, so I said I was just booking us all a holiday and would do it in a minute, so she burst into tears and started WAILING!

I feel really annoyed as I was trying to do something nice for us all and she can't wait a few minutes!

The noise though drives me crazy so I've put her on the naughty spot as otherwise I'll just get really angry with her.

She's always been like this and it is so hard sometimes.

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MerryMarigold · 25/03/2011 16:19

I think the approach I would take to this is not to give in to the wailing (doesn't sound like you did). But instead of the time out, I would say, I will listen to you when you have stopped crying and then we can talk about it. And then tune it out. If it's something she really wants you to do, or talk about, she will soon turn it off. If that doesn't work, then maybe there are deeper issues...dunno...it must be hard for you, but I wouldn't give her the naughty step as she may just be a super emotional child who needs to learn how to control her emotions, as other children do with anger or running around.

plopplopquack · 25/03/2011 16:32

I think Merry the problem I have is that I can't tune it out. I just CAN'T! Then the little one always chooses that moment to start as well and I go insane. The naughty step it more to give us both a chance to calm down as I have a quick temper so it's necessary sometimes. So it's more that then as a punishment.

Well we had a talk after and she is fine now (my blood pressure is still raised!) I think you are right that she is a super emotional child who needs to learn to control her emotions. When she was younger we used to teach her to calm herself down but every now and then she goes through these phases of what we taught her 'going out the window'. Particularly if she is unwell or something, then we ALL suffer.

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NigellaTufnel · 25/03/2011 16:41

Am with you on this one, the only thing I would add is that when we have this with ds I say, 'do you want to wail, and go to bed? Or do you want to stop wailing, do some painting/ watch TV, have a cuddle and then have a chocolate buttons etc?'

It's bribery, and possibly bad parenting, but you sound at the end of your tether, and hey, if it helps...

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MerryMarigold · 25/03/2011 18:36

How about sending her to her room to calm down? I have done that with ds1 and my dd (still only 2). The isolation seems to calm them down quickly and then we can talk.

plopplopquack · 26/03/2011 07:46

I'd be a little worried about the bribery technique really, although I can see why you do it Nigella.

I think the thing for me is to stay calm, that really helps, but I'm not a very calm person!

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MerryMarigold · 26/03/2011 09:56

I'm not calm either, plopp! The crying/ screaming does wind me up big time. In fact constant moaning and whining is just as bad. But when they are really losing it and have lost control, there's no reasoning with them, so some space for them to calm down is helpful to you (removes them from you!) and helpful to them (well it generally works with 2 of mine). I'd just avoid the association that crying is naughty (ie. putting on step), but removal into another room. If you do it as soon as the losing it starts, you don't have time to start getting wound up! I had to carry ds1 upstairs the other day as he was in such a state (lego toy 'broke'). He was scratching my face, kicking etc. and we had friends round Blush. But after 5 mins or so he was ok, and we could have a serious talk. Actually something had happened at school that day that really upset him, but he hadn't told me and it all came out in that overreaction. I haven't yet figured out how to help him control those emotions as they are coming up, but I am a very emotional person too, and I don't think I've cracked it myself. Just encourage to keep talking...

plopplopquack · 29/03/2011 10:18

MerryMarigold Sorry only just saw your post. You right that I must make sure she doesn't think it is naughty to cry. That would be awful!

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mamsnet · 29/03/2011 10:48

But, Marigold?
Does your child not hate being separated from you then? I have an almost 5 year old very sensitive DD too.. And if I put her in her room to cry it out, she freaks.. When she's feeling so oerwhelmed by her emotions she doesn't seem to be able to deal with them alone.. If I put her sitting down somewhere near me to reflect on it, it's ok.. If she can't see me she freaks.
This thread is really interesting actully.. What you said about needing to control her emotions which other kids (her brother, incidentally) do by getting angry and running around..
Have you (plural!) read The Highly Sensitive Child.. I found it invaluable in helping me to think of things from the pov of somebody whose emotions are so strong.. And of course, I recognised myself in there too. We have had bad periods, of course, but I think coming to the realisation that DD and I are both like that has helped our relationship immensely.

mamsnet · 29/03/2011 10:49

And yes, I think we were all programmed, to some extent, to think that it was naughty to cry.. Relaxing that reaction has been a huge help too.

plopplopquack · 29/03/2011 12:56

I think we were all programmed, to some extent, to think that it was naughty to cry

Do you think? I don't react badly to crying in general but the sudden over the top wailing about nothing does my head in (obviously the child doesn't think it's nothing).

She seems to have calmed down in general the last couple of days. I think it gets worse when she is very tired.

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mamsnet · 29/03/2011 14:41

Well, maybe naughty is the wrong word.. Just something which we had to stop doing ASAP..
I often just let DD cry for a little while.. She seems to feel better once whatever it was is out of her system. Just like her mother

plopplopquack · 29/03/2011 16:34

Yeah I can relate to that! Sometimes I just cry for no reason and go a bit mental and then feel better afterwards!

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Underachieving · 29/03/2011 19:07

My DD went through a whining horrible phase at about the age of 8 and frankly I felt like I was right on the edge of actually physically slapping her some times. I've lost count of the number of times I have snapped and shouted something like "FFS, go to your F-ing bedroom, NOW". Obviously this is utterly unacceptable and I'm not proud of it, but they do truly drive you mad. It wasn't even what she said, it was the way she did it, it was perfectly designed to get on my last nerve.

Then my partner (who is not her Dad) decided to get involved, which he usually wouldn't. It was such a total relief.

He sat her and I down at the table and explained to her perfectly calmly that whining does not work. It only elicits a very negative response, if it elicits a response at all. He told her he understood that she did it because she didn't feel like anyone took any notice until she got upset and being upset was not nice for anyone, so he wanted to think of a better idea. He explained to her that whining would, from now on, be ignored (along with mubling, which she also did to annoy me) but that polite requests would be considered and wherever possible granted. Then he explained to me, in front of her that she whines because she thinks that being polite doesn't work, so I have to do thinks differently and make sure being polite does work too, in order to hold up my side of the new rules.

At first when she asked me politely for things I didn't really pay attention to all of them, or said no out of habit, which he pulled me up on by saying "she asked politely, be fair". I would then appologise to DD and say "yes you did, I am sorry" and then I would reconsider, giving her my full attention when she was speaking. Reconsidering did not mean she always got her own way, but when she could not I would at least give her a good, logical reason why not. Any whining was dealt with immediately. OH would say "you are whining, we aren't going to listen until you are polite" and she would often just stop, take a deep breath and ask again. When she asked sarcastically she was told "that was not polite" and not answered. When she asked nicely she was answered nicely with our full attention. If she carried on whining the only response she got at all is "you are whining, go to the naughty step and stay there until you can be polite again".

At first we exadgerated the niceness and granted every possible request. So it was still no to chocolate before dinner time but it would be yes to getting up from the PC to turn the TV up. Now I would probably say "bring Mummy the remote and I'll turn it up".

I think you have probably got into the same hole I was in, when everything DD says feels negative and you feel like you just want her to stop bothering you at all. It isn't though. A lot of the time she will be using wailling as she feels polite didn't work, which is perhaps what happened with the TV. She needs to know that as of now only polite will work but you also need to go that extra mile to honor the new rules too. If you can get your OH onside as the referee so much the better while you get started.

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