5 year old suddenly being a mean brother

[Oh4godssake]

Help! Since the school holidays began, my son has gone from being a mild mannered, loving elder brother to his 2 year old sister, to hulking out if he is offered the same food as her/same activity/same telly etc etc.

2yo doesn't understand why she's getting shouted at. She idolises him, and so wants to do what he does.

He is generally losing the plot with very little warning (if any) and we're treading on eggshells around him.

We're trying to give him quality time with each parent minus his sister, but this persists. I recognise that loss of his usual routine is affecting him.

Can anyone suggest some books or activities for him to accept him sister again, or help me understand his behaviour?

Hello, anyone about who could share their thoughts?!

I was told that around 5 years old boys go through a testosterone spurt which can cause a phase of outbursts like this unfortunately

Thank you Frantically. I'm hoping it passes soon! He's really difficult to deal with. I do sympathise with him, but I'm not coping well!

She idolises him, and so wants to do what he does.

Without school to give him a major break, he's probably reached the limit of his tolerance 2yo's can be very full on and an absolute PITA. Don't try to force the relationship, it will only make things worse. He's probably going to need time to decompress before he has more tolerance again.

Give him some 1-2-1 and ask him why he is finding his sister so annoying, you might not like the answer but it could inform your next steps.

My eldest son is only 3 so not completely comparable but last couple of weeks hasn't been himself either, like you mentioned in your post I realised yesterday that it was partly the lack of his normal routine Monday to Friday with play groups and nursery all having finished for the summer holidays. I started talking to him about what our new routine could be for what we will do each day during the holidays - eg. go to library on Tuesdays, park on Fridays etc, and he visibly relaxed while I was talking about it and he's seemed much better since now he's a bit more secure about what will happen from one day to the next. Is this an option you could do for your DS to make a new routine for him?

My three were hideous to each other last week. Kids don’t like their routines to change, even if it is for a fun reason like holidays! And all the excitement plus the heat is making them tired and grumpy. Plus they are genuinely not used to spending this much time together.
Now we’re a week in I have the ‘holiday’ routine in place and they are all calming down a bit. Planned time apart, plus a calendar showing the plans for the week have helped.