Very aggressive 2.4 year old

[OverTheRainbow88]

I need advice please. My 2.4 year old is very aggressive. Apparently he’s not aggressive at nursery where he is 3 days a week.

He bites me and his older brother, throws things at us, hits, pulls hair and kicks. The other day at a farm he kicked a chicken. He’ll run up to a stranger and kick them and laugh

He’s very verbal and can talk remarkably well for his age; he’s a happy chappy, has a crazy amount of energy, on non nursery days he’s out running around about 6 hours a day.

His diet isn’t ideal but is varied and has lots of healthy food. Some ‘sugary’ foods in the week like cake or ice cream.

I don’t know what to do when he hurts people. I try time out, he doesn’t seem to care, I tell him
No and try and move him away, he laughs. It’s hard not to get angry back, which I know would be terrible.

I wonder if he has a behaviour problem? His elder siblings/cousins haven’t behaved like this.

Luckily he’s asleep now.. well until he wakes at midnight for a few hours.

My OH was ready to cave within 5 min of crying!

I’ve ordered a takeaway and opened a bottle of red!

A well deserved bottle of wine! It will get easier, keep it up!

I wonder if that's why he behaves so differently at nursery compared to at home? (Most children do I find!)

However the style of nursery may really suit him, his needs are being met in that he can play on his terms there.

Have you tried saying 'no' less at home?

Instead of saying 'It's time for dinner now' by spending some time playing his game with him and then introducing the concept of dinner during play he may be more willing to co-operate.

By styling your home time more on the nursery model he may feel calmer and less overwhelmed.

I understand that this may be really hard to do though!

Otherwise have you considered a Parenting Course at your local children's centre? Some of them are being run online at the moment. Ones such as 'Positive Parenting' can help to explain what may be going on/what may work. I have attended a few and now work with people who run them and they can be very effective at reframing how parents parent with positive outcomes.

Hope you enjoy your wine and takeaway - sounds like it has been a hard day.

I do agree it's trickier as you have another child to consider when leaving places for his behaviour, my parents always did this when my brother was naughty and it was shit. Sounds like you're making positive steps, it's really tricky isn't it. Do you think perhaps the free flow of nursery is not helping you to set boundaries? Are there any triggers? DS went through a stage like this, but as its just him we could leave places etc if needed without it being harsh on anyone else.