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Preteens

Parenting a preteen can be a minefield. Find support here.

Please can I have some advice? My 10 year old daughter throws huge tantrums..

32 replies

dinomum13 · 11/10/2017 09:49

Hi I'm brand new to mumsnet but I'm hoping some other parents will be able to give us some advice.
Our 10 year old daughter is still throwing massive tantrums at home. She is an angel at school and other times but will literally scream the house down at home when shes not happy about something. She gets very anxious about school and her work and puts a great deal of pressure on herself to achieve better than younger sister(we tie ourselves in knots trying to be fair and not make any comparisons)
I asked our GP for a parenting course but this has been cancelled and I have taken some advice from the local CAMHS unit but it's not enough.She refused all counselling. If I take things away from her she sneers at us when they are handed back (even 6 weeks later when I finally returned her ipad)
Last night I resorted to throwing items from her room in the bin every time she screamed - it still didn't stop her- she screamed louder - she went on for 2 hours! So she lost a great deal of her possessions. It felt cruel and I feel ashamed but I have no idea what to do - can anyone help with suggestion on how to discipline her? My husband is supportive and feels the same - we don't know what to do and of course it upsets our younger child who has to witness huge shouting/screaming matches.
We try not to enter into arguments with her when she's like this but she wont stay in her room and just screams and screams until we end up shouting too (and occasionally swearing back which makes us feel even worse.) I feel such a failure as a parent. My mum verbally abused me as a kid and I feel like I've been thrown right back there, but his time acting like my mum did. I'm horrified that all the neighbours must hear these awful meltdowns too - the whole thing makes me feel so ashamed. Any advice is really welcome

OP posts:
MichelleH1 · 07/06/2022 08:51

Hello...i realise this post is old but just wondering how you have got on with your daughter? My almost 10 year old is exactly the same, and has been for years. Shes up and down but doesnt seem to be growing out of it. Im on my second parenting course but its not helping as as hard as i try to stay calm it is too difficult sometimes to ignore her behaviour and we too have a younger child to think about! I hope things resolved for you over time and there is hope!? I feel like it is my fault

jubileetrain · 07/06/2022 08:52

Make your own thread, raising a near 5 year old thread is just going to get multiple people replying to the OP. Also asking how someone got on a few years later when things may have escalated is seriously insensitive.

MichelleH1 · 07/06/2022 09:50

Wow. Thanks for that 👍

Cslim1 · 11/03/2024 22:56

Hi I have a child who has always been hyper and struggled with sleep maximum 4 to 5 hours school are have extreme violent outbursts since hes been 7/8 in year 3 hes now 11 in year 6 hes on a modified timetable of 3 hours aday hes been getting excluded every week now there thinking about permanently excluded him ive been to go loads time no joy no help hes like this at home very hyper dnt sleep wen he does its short 4 to 5 hours max and multiple wakes throughout and it takes him a long time to settle for bed hes out brushes r happening more frequently and lasting longer he can tell me an school bits but can't recall whole events any ideas what is wrong all I hear is emotional dysregulation

MollyButton · 11/03/2024 23:05

This is a Zombie thread. But I would suggest you get further investigation maybe via a paediatrician.

Khud · 08/06/2024 08:21

I was just curious how things ended up with your daughter? We’re currently in the middle of this with our 10 year old daughter…

dinomum13 · 14/06/2024 09:56

I've had various questions over the years about this thread. Our daughter was eventually properly diagnosed by CAMHS as autistic, and we completely changed our way of parenting her. After getting advice on Mumsnet, we started to use low-demand techniques, and this was a real breakthrough for us. Once we started to 'parent' her less, her behaviour calmed down (ok, not every day and not straight away!) We learned not to react - even when the house was getting smashed up! We just let it happen, and she did not continue once she realised we were not going to intervene. However, we suffered a few holes in the walls and repair bills, but it was worth toughing it out.

Her primary school were absolutely no help, and because she was so perfectly behaved, they completely gaslighted me whenever I raised concerns. We went back to see a GP, who thankfully understood about girls masking anxiety and re-engaged CAMHS. It took years to get her to participate in CBT, though, and I'm not sure if this made much difference anyway. However, the low-demand stuff really works. I would suggest giving it a go; if your explosive child responds well, this could be an indicator they are autistic or have PDA.
My daughter is so well-behaved outside of the house that most people still give us the impression we must be making it up if we ever mention her diagnosis. But we know, and that's what counts. We have experienced how much her diagnosis has improved all our lives.

I wish I had noticed earlier that my daughter's tantrums were not about her asking for things EVER; they were always about her getting away or NOT wanting things, such as noise, other people, changing clothes, etc. Once I realised this, thanks to help from Mumsnetters, things finally started to add up. It was not me parenting badly; I was just using neurotypical techniques on a neurodiverse child. I just needed to understand her triggers, get her to understand them and steer her own way through them.
I hope this helps those of you having similar struggles. Good luck!

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