how do i deal with a child who has......?

Question

i work at a daycare a child that i take care of has this thing that he started doing. when you try to disapline hiom for not playing nice or doing something wrong he starts screaming and the will get down on his hands and knees and start banging his head on the floor or banging it on anything he can find like the wall he will do this until he gets tired and he just gets mad when you get near him and he will do it harder. his brother has a mental illness and he doesn't go to the daycare but the little boy is only little over a year old what should i do? i am kind of a fraid of what he might do to hurt himself or the other children. when he gets like this we have to take him in the other room. is there anythig else i can do to help him??

Answer 1

He is doing this because he is upset or frustrated and doesn't know a more appropriate way to communicate yet. Work with him on his vocabulary. Talk about his feelings. "I see you're frustrated" or "that made you mad." Work on teaching him other ways to communicate how he feels. Consider working on some sign language with him as kids can often pick that up easier than words.

Answer 2

First-ignore the comment of this is what happens in day care, it isn't and most of on here with any common sense realize that. The fact you are concerned is a good thing.

Second-your question. You said if you try to correct him for doing something wrong, like what? Is he reacting badly to being around other children in addition to a bad reaction to your attempt to correct him? My first thought here would be the possibility of something such as Autism. Toddlers don't like to be told no and will ingage in some behavior to get a reaction from you-but if he is hurting himself then it may be more serious. He could also be following cues he has seen from his brother (depending on the type of mental illness he has). I think the best thing is to meet with the parent's and tell them you have concerns about his behavior. You work with children every day-things that are out of the norm will stand out to you faster. Not to mention that if one child has a disability, the parents may be clinging to the hope that this child has no issues-even if they have seen the behavior to. It is a tough spot to be in. If you have other folks for support at the center-talk to them. Ask one of them to sit in on the meeting with the parents. The sad thing is that you will have to do it since parents of the other students may start taking their children out rather than expose them to the situation (again, not to knock you, but as a partent it would alarm me if my child were seeing this on a regular basis). I hope that you and the child's parents are able to work through this and address his needs. And do not feel bad if the solution may be that the child is not ready developmentally for day care in a large group setting at this time-that happens. Best of luck to you.

Answer 3

If he's banging his head hard enough to injure himself, then this is not normal behavior. It sounds like his parents need to seek professional help on this one. All you can do is restrain him until he calms down. You can't let him injure himself. Poor little thing. Good luck to you.

Answer 4

Tell his mother she needs to get her kid and parent him herself.

This is the plight of kids being raised in someone else's care all day.