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#1
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four year old behavior
Any suggestions on discouraging (ideally eliminating) these behaviors
with a four and a half year old boy before I go insane. 1. Singing over everyone with some repetitive word (ma, ma being the most common). 2. Stomping and marching. Often this is happening with the first behavior. 3. Thumbsucking/nose picking. I have had very little luck with discouraging his thumbsucking (for now, he is not allowed to do it while spending one-on-one time with us). He started putting his finger in his nose while sucking his thumb a while back (maybe 4 or 5 months). It has caused quite a bit of nose bleeds, but I haven't been able to get him to stop. My response on the first two have been to give him a warning with a request to stop. If he starts doing it within a short period of time (5 minutes), he gets a time out (about four minutes). We have seen no reduction in either behavior. In regard to the third, other than general discouragement, I have only dealt with the nose picking issue. I have cleaned his nose with a q-tip and applied a very small amount of triple-antibiotic to the immediate area (advice from the doctor). He really doesn't like the treatment, but it doesn't seem to discourage the behavior. I would really appreciate some new options to deal with him and any information on developmental expectations, particularly in regard to his impulsivity. I feel like the balance of our communication is beginning to favor the negative interaction through the day. We are coasting downhill to summer vacation when his older sisters (7 and 8) are around all day and starting preschool in the fall. Thanks, Karen G |
#2
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four year old behavior
No bright ideas to stop his behaviors, but it might help you gain
insight to keep a log of the behavior for a week or so. Suggested columns - date, time, what happend right before, behavior that happened, your response, his response This will help you identify causes and possibly see subtle differences in your responses, leading to what works best. When Henry was about that age, we did this with his preschool when he was having some aggressive behavior. We realized it was happening like clockwork at two times of the day. We experimented with extra recess/outside play time about a half hour before it happened and it worked like a charm. I'm not saying the same answer will work for you, but the log is amazing in its ability to illuminate a situation like this, particularly when you are so frustrated yourself that it's hard to have perspective in the moment. He does sound impulsive... as the mother of a kid with ADD my antennae went up... perhaps worthwhile to discuss this with your pediatrician as well. I wish we had known Henry was ADD at that age, rather than waiting to have that diagnosis at age 9. Good luck! -Dawn Mom to Henry, 14 |
#3
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four year old behavior
Dawn,
Keeping track of the behavior in a log style sounds fantastic. I am going to start that immediately. He is going to be starting preschool in the fall. I guess I am trying to pay better attention now so that when I am dealing with behavior reports from preschool teachers, I have a better idea what to do. ADD question: Did you 9 year old have issues with "knowing the rules", but not being able to use them to guide his behavior in practice? Thanks, Karen |
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