Dad Advice: Tips For Handling A Problem Child

Dad Advice: Tips For Handling A Problem Child

A fellow dad is having a rough time with his 5-year-old and hundreds of guys offered great advice on the Life of Dad Facebook page. Here’s a sampling of dad advice tips for handling a problem child.

Jessica Tracy: I’m a mom, and while most men here don’t want a mom’s opinion I have one. Your child needs to be tested for attention related issues. This sounds a lot like ODD. Google it. I have then also been looking into the triad of impairments as it’s very interesting, pages like https://augmentive.io/blog/autism-triad-impairments are excellent resources on the triad of impairments so have a look at that if you are caring for someone with autism. Good luck with your kid! I understand the frustrations because I am homeschooling my 11 year old who couldn’t make it through a day of school. I’ve also seen some toys for the autistic children which you can find at a good place like hereonthespectrum.com.

Anthony Bristol: As a dad, I approve of the above message [from Jessica Tracy]. No but really, if it’s constructive advise like this, we don’t care about gender.

Jesse Jones: Since his is the oldest of 4 kids an being only 5, my question is if he is getting enough attention. Instead of jumping directly to the possible of an psychological disorder, see if he suffering from loneliness and heartache. Me being a single Father of 3 i am goin thru the same issue. I know it is difficult with the way the world is, how tough things are raising kids and the amount of energy it takes but they still need the same amount of love no matter whats going on.

Ian Wrigley: What’s he eating? Look carefully at the additives, amount of sugar and flavorings. Consider a ketogenic diet and see if it helps – while it’s generally for obese people, epileptics, autism etc, it has proven benefits for behavior and mood stability too.

Nicholas Wenglarz: Seen several good suggestions.. I’m a single dad to 2 boys. My oldest is now in 1st grade and is doing great. However his kindergarten year he was very troubled. Got into trouble a lot… Played by himself in class.. was sent to the office a lot. No I’m not big on counseling due to their eagerness to call kids some sort of disabled. All it was for my son was a mixture of needing a great set in stone routine and to know his behavior was unacceptable..

Now here’s the trick for me I couldn’t say it at home I had to show him I knew how he was behaving. In order to do that I had to sit with him through a few days of school showing him following along can be fun and is what you like. The one day my son acted like the school described I immediately signed him out of school.. the second we hit the car I exploded on him so he knew the behavior I was addressing was his school behavior. He of course cried his eyes out but from that moment on he understood and acted much better. Anyways there’s no one style fits all but not all kids who get into trouble are needing tested. Your the parent make that call. Good luck and God bless.

Afreen Alam: That’s one hurt child! My heart goes out to him! Having 4 children 5 years and under can’t be easy to say the least and it’s easy to lose sight that he is only a child of 5 years and needs positive, quality attention. You might be expecting a lot of him w/o even realizing it. I highly recommend quality 1 on 1 time with him where you make sure you are allowing him the space to let out his hurt to you and begin to heal. Won’t happen in just one or two or three sessions but it will. And I strongly recommend therapy.

Brian Holder: I don’t mean for you to take offense of this but I got a almost 5 year old boy and I’ve come to figure out that they watch you very closely to figure out how to act in life and also they will get attention wether it be good or bad it could be a number of reasons excluding the possibility of some disorders that he might have but him having a great role model and a great amount of time with that role model should help a lot.

Davey Doran: Ever asked him why? I really don’t mean to sound like a dick but maybe an uncle or aunt could ask? I always treated my aunt and uncle like friends before family. Hope you sort it out brother.

Flickr photo by familymwr.