How to Stop Your Child from Being Aggressive
Discuss feelings with your child., Give your child boundaries., Provide additional coping strategies., Recognize consistent triggers., Eliminate as many obstacles as possible.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Discuss feelings with your child.
As your child grows, they will experience a range of changing feelings.
Some stages, like being a toddler or teenager, will bring extreme changes to your child’s emotions.
If your child is young, talk to them about the different feelings that they may experience.
As your child becomes familiar with their emotions, ask them to identify how they are feeling to help them practice processing their emotions.
Helping your child to understand their feelings will help them express them in a healthy way.You can find flashcards and story books to help your child better understand feelings.
You could say something like, “I know that you are feeling upset, but this is totally normal.
Everyone gets frustrated sometimes.” -
Step 2: Give your child boundaries.
Children need limits to guide their behavior.
As a parent, you have to set the limits for what behavior is acceptable and what is not.
Once a boundary is set, it must always be consistent.
If you allow your child to get by with something, they will think that the behavior is acceptable.For example, if you are teaching your child that they cannot hit another person, this has to be true for every person.
You should not punish them for hitting a sibling, but condone them hitting an uncle. , Aggressive behaviors like hitting and yelling are ways that children express and cope with their emotions.
Giving your child healthy ways to express themselves and work out their emotions will let them rely less on aggressive behavior.
Teach them coping skills such as talking about their feelings, taking a moment to themselves, or moving on to a new activity.For example, you could teach your child to stop and count to ten when they feel upset.
This will give them time to process their feelings before reacting.
Meditation and mindfulness help children improve their attention and regulate their emotions.
Those skills continue into adulthood., Some children react aggressively when they are hungry or sleepy.
If you notice a pattern to your child’s aggression, keep track of it.
This can help you identify the things that frustrate your child and cause aggression.Meet with your child’s teachers, daycare providers, and other caretakers to discuss their behavior and contributing factors so that you can construct an accurate picture about what is happening with your child.
Some kids behave differently at home than they do in other situations, such as in school or daycare.
Hunger, tiredness, or being uncomfortable can all be triggers that contribute to lashing out aggressively. , Once you identify your child’s triggers, you can start removing or controlling them.
The more of these triggers that you address, the more you can help your child cope with their emotions.
Just keep in mind that you will not be able to remove all triggers all the time.For example, if your child is aggressive when they are hungry, you could make it a point to pack snacks whenever you go somewhere.
Since lack of sleep is a major contributor for aggression in children, teach your child good sleep habits using a bedtime ritual.
If your child is aggressive because they are sleepy, make time for a nap during the day; however, remember that naps do not replace a full-night’s sleep. -
Step 3: Provide additional coping strategies.
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Step 4: Recognize consistent triggers.
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Step 5: Eliminate as many obstacles as possible.
Detailed Guide
As your child grows, they will experience a range of changing feelings.
Some stages, like being a toddler or teenager, will bring extreme changes to your child’s emotions.
If your child is young, talk to them about the different feelings that they may experience.
As your child becomes familiar with their emotions, ask them to identify how they are feeling to help them practice processing their emotions.
Helping your child to understand their feelings will help them express them in a healthy way.You can find flashcards and story books to help your child better understand feelings.
You could say something like, “I know that you are feeling upset, but this is totally normal.
Everyone gets frustrated sometimes.”
Children need limits to guide their behavior.
As a parent, you have to set the limits for what behavior is acceptable and what is not.
Once a boundary is set, it must always be consistent.
If you allow your child to get by with something, they will think that the behavior is acceptable.For example, if you are teaching your child that they cannot hit another person, this has to be true for every person.
You should not punish them for hitting a sibling, but condone them hitting an uncle. , Aggressive behaviors like hitting and yelling are ways that children express and cope with their emotions.
Giving your child healthy ways to express themselves and work out their emotions will let them rely less on aggressive behavior.
Teach them coping skills such as talking about their feelings, taking a moment to themselves, or moving on to a new activity.For example, you could teach your child to stop and count to ten when they feel upset.
This will give them time to process their feelings before reacting.
Meditation and mindfulness help children improve their attention and regulate their emotions.
Those skills continue into adulthood., Some children react aggressively when they are hungry or sleepy.
If you notice a pattern to your child’s aggression, keep track of it.
This can help you identify the things that frustrate your child and cause aggression.Meet with your child’s teachers, daycare providers, and other caretakers to discuss their behavior and contributing factors so that you can construct an accurate picture about what is happening with your child.
Some kids behave differently at home than they do in other situations, such as in school or daycare.
Hunger, tiredness, or being uncomfortable can all be triggers that contribute to lashing out aggressively. , Once you identify your child’s triggers, you can start removing or controlling them.
The more of these triggers that you address, the more you can help your child cope with their emotions.
Just keep in mind that you will not be able to remove all triggers all the time.For example, if your child is aggressive when they are hungry, you could make it a point to pack snacks whenever you go somewhere.
Since lack of sleep is a major contributor for aggression in children, teach your child good sleep habits using a bedtime ritual.
If your child is aggressive because they are sleepy, make time for a nap during the day; however, remember that naps do not replace a full-night’s sleep.
About the Author
Paul Gibson
Writer and educator with a focus on practical DIY projects knowledge.
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