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Don't know what the fuck just happened. This can't be normal?!

25 replies

whoisthischild · 06/02/2023 19:35

My 3.5 year old had tantrums, can kick off etc he's never been placid to say the least

But tonight he went fucking feral. He was refusing to go to bed because he hadn't finishing building something, we gave him 10 mins he was stalling still so dh took him to bed

He went absolutely demented screaming at the top of his lungs, not crying just rage screaming, such fierce anger he was shaking red in the face gritting his teeth at me. He spat at me which he's never ever done before. He's still upstairs now with dh and all I can hear is bangs crashes and screaming as he's totally fucking his room up he's just lost it and I've never seen him like this. Wondering what the hell is happening and what to do? I'm totally thrown

OP posts:
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Tanfastic · 06/02/2023 19:45

No advice really but just wanted to say I had one of those, he regularly trashed his room etc and had the most amazing tantrums.

He's now 14 and lovely 😊
Grew out of it around 5 or 6.

SummerHouse · 06/02/2023 19:45

Sounds extreme. You have my sympathy. As it's so out of the ordinary I would wonder if he is coming down with something?

Dillydollydingdong · 06/02/2023 19:50

My 10 yo dgs does that. Maybe not quite so bad but name-calling as well.

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MiniDinosaur · 06/02/2023 19:51

My DS had a few off the scale tantrums like that when he was 3 or 4. He grew out of it once he learned to manage his emotions, but it was scary at the time. We didn’t shout at him, we just told him that when he calmed down we would have a cuddle, and kept repeating. He is 14 now and lovely.

Tomliboosrule · 06/02/2023 19:54

My son occasionally loses it like this - usually means he is either over tired or coming down with something. The older he gets the less it happens and it’s pretty rare now he is 6.

ThomasWaghornsConeHat · 06/02/2023 19:54

Ah bless. I wouldn't overly worry if it's a one off. Toddler rage is just them finding their own personality. It's really hard, this too shall pass

Twattergy · 06/02/2023 19:57

Sounds like normal toddler rage exacerbated by one or more of the following - hunger, illness, extreme tiredness or something upsetting happened to him earlier in the day?

scrivette · 06/02/2023 20:02

Mine have all done this on occasion, usually a combination of overtiredness, big feelings, sugary foods.
How is DH doing? It's exhausting dealing with this sort of behaviour. Sometimes I would just get them in a tight hold and try and safely hold/cuddle them. I would also sing their bedtime lullabies to keep myself sane whilst doing it.

LemonJuiceFromConcentrate · 06/02/2023 20:06

We found the best way to deal with this was to step back and recognise that the child is so massively, massively dysregulated, they just can’t find their way back. It’s hard though when you are sort of in shock at how alarming and OTT it is!

You need to try and dig deep within yourself to be the big, safe island of calm, and soothe them till they get past it somehow.

and then perhaps break out the gin once they’re asleep

NCcantthinkofanewone · 06/02/2023 20:10

What's he done today? Nursery?

My child can go like this, granted maybe not as far, when he's over tired.

I have to basically not say a sing but use actions.
Remove him from anything he can cause harm to himself, remove things from his hand, and basically try and bear hug him, rock and pat his back.

It's basically trying to get them back from a place they can't understand.

It's hard as fuck.

NCcantthinkofanewone · 06/02/2023 20:11

Thing not sing

NCcantthinkofanewone · 06/02/2023 20:12

I would try and take over from DH cause it's mentally and physically exhausting.
Tag team it.

Move to your room if you need to and try calm in there

Idgaff · 06/02/2023 20:16

I remember my eldest doing this at around the same age. After spending ages trying to comfort / find out what was wrong the only option left was to leave her in her room by herself - it went against everything I wanted to do but every other action kept making things worse. I was sat outside at the top of the stairs crying along with her (silently!!) We had a chat the following morning and she said she didn’t know why she was so upset, but when she got in such a state she didn’t know how to stop…. My theory is it’s basically them learning to regularise / manage emotions, in whatever way works for them.

letitcomedown · 06/02/2023 20:22

Some kids are very sensitive to food coloring (usually red or green) and other artificial additives, it would take almost an hour for our DD to calm down after a dose.

WishIWasACavewoman · 06/02/2023 20:26

Welcome to the start of the age 4 testosterone surge. It's like they have PMT all the time. Probably worse for them than us...

Purplepeoniesdroppingpetals · 06/02/2023 21:00

My oldest did this twice - first time was over an eclair and I thought he was actually having a fit. Second time he totally trashed his room and I waited for him to stop, which he did eventually, whimpering ‘mummy I’m scared’ so we had a cuddle and tidied up. He’s now 22, studying international relations and I’d describe him as the more rational of the two of us. Bloody terrifying when they’re doing it but they have massive emotions and can’t handle them. Try to ride it out x

Hellopello · 06/02/2023 21:22

Hope your little boy is ok , they really don’t know how to cope with their big feelings, and end up hating feeling out of control and beside themselves with feeling angry, and sad and unable to cope. It’s one of the hardest things to deal with as parents, too, and hope you and Dh are doing ok, it’s very upsetting to see our children struggling, angry, lost in their emotions and being out of control.

For us, when our Dd was dealing with outbursts and we were just trying desperately to find ways to calm the situation and also avoid triggers, we found her diet played a big part. When we tried getting back to home cooked and simpler meals , mostly additive free, and removed foods from our DDS diet that had numbers in the ingredients list , the change in her behaviour was just wonderful. We watched her go from being unsettled and prone to outbursts, to a so much calmer and happier child.

So, for my daughter, we started to get bread from bakery that didn’t use preservatives , we stopped all yoghurt as it had an ato 160b, we bought plain biscuits and relied on websites to guide us, such as fedup.com

For our children we found that learning to talk to them later when calm, helped us remember not to try to reason when they are out of control, and later we were able to more easily teach him about how to communicate his feelings. But it all comes down to learning to firsthand recognising, and then understanding and dealing with his emotions better, in their own way.

In time, although it may not seem that way, your little boy will learn the triggers that might make him upset and lead to feeling angry , and you can discuss a compromise so he could cope better with giving up his favourite game/ activity.

When our children were young and having a meltdown, it was the hardest thing to get through, for both them, and us, and sometimes you do feel at a loss, when nothing seemed to work. Our children are very levelheaded and loving young adults now. Hope you all get some rest and feel better soon, it’s tough going through this.

midnightblue12 · 06/02/2023 21:35

Oh OP I'm so so sorry to hear what you're going through.
My eldest is prone to some very dramatic tantrums, it really is so challenging.
I have Keane rover the years that his erratic behaviour is normally when he's coming down with something, particularly an ear or water
infection!

samqueens · 06/02/2023 21:35

So sorry OP that sounds so tough. Agree tag teaming sounds like a good idea, more than 10 mins of that is so hard to take as a parent.

(Also just shamelessly placemarking because these responses are so kind and helpful, and I want to remember where they are to be found!)

GeorgiaGirl52 · 06/02/2023 22:09

My DD2 had rages like that. As I did not have a DH around to physically transport her to bed, I improvised. When she raged, I frog-marched her into the bathroom and put her in a cold shower. It took about 20 seconds for the raging to stop. Then I dried her off, put her in pjs and took her to bed.

RudsyFarmer · 06/02/2023 22:12

Yep mine did the same. That phase lasted a couple of years between 3 and 5 at its peak. He’s much better now at 7.

Soapnotshowergel · 06/02/2023 22:58

DD1 had a few tantrums like that, particularly at bedtime, we referred to her as Hulk for a while (not while she was awake obviously!).

I found the best thing would be to let her get it out of her system, trying to intervene seemed to make it last longer. I'd do a "right, I'm not going to be hit/spoken to like that, I'll be in the kitchen, you come and get me when you're ready for a cuddle". She'd eventually appear for a hug and then we could carry on with bedtime.

LemonJuiceFromConcentrate · 07/02/2023 07:54

GeorgiaGirl52 · 06/02/2023 22:09

My DD2 had rages like that. As I did not have a DH around to physically transport her to bed, I improvised. When she raged, I frog-marched her into the bathroom and put her in a cold shower. It took about 20 seconds for the raging to stop. Then I dried her off, put her in pjs and took her to bed.

Wtf

Hellopello · 07/02/2023 11:59

GeorgiaGirl52 · 06/02/2023 22:09

My DD2 had rages like that. As I did not have a DH around to physically transport her to bed, I improvised. When she raged, I frog-marched her into the bathroom and put her in a cold shower. It took about 20 seconds for the raging to stop. Then I dried her off, put her in pjs and took her to bed.

Cold showers used as punishment in asylums and prisons were banned some time ago.

NCcantthinkofanewone · 07/02/2023 12:16

How are things this morning op?

I hope you all managed a settled night

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