A child unaware of what pain is?

Question

I have a thoughtful question. My neice is almost four years old, and doesn't seem to know what pain is or that is can seriously hurt. She can hit you over and over while you tell her it hurts, she tries to stab people with forks/pencils etc. when we tell her it'll kill us (or make us go bye-bye and never see us again), but she just keeps on. Her mom brought her two week old brother over two days ago and we told her not to hurt him, and the next second while I was holding him, she threw a huge shoe in his direction trying to hit him with it. Of course, I held him out of the way. Then her mom mentioned about another child with a similar problem, Tristan. He had held a kitchen knife to my cousin's neck when he wouldn't give him cookies before bed, and did the same thing to his baby brother. Can anyone tell me this condition? Or is it even a condition? Please, I want to get her help before she starts school

I knew she wasn't jealous because she had been excited about meeting him.

My parents had been watch Saving Private Ryan, and she was laughing at all of the soldiers getting killed. She is given a maximum amount of love and care, so I don't see why she is doing it.

She can feel pain because when she scrapes her knees she cries and says ow. Also, it isn't because of jealously, I'm sure. Is it normal to tell a child for a year not to swing a cat around by it's arms, but still having her do it a year and a half later?

She isn't effected by spankings anymore, so we've given up with those methods. My brother doesn't believe in time outs, he said they don't work.

Answer 1

I'm not sure the name but there is a condition where children don't feel pain at all and hurt themselves without knowing it so maybe she doesn't realize what she is doing to people because she cant feel it.. take her to a doctors and get her checked.. they can do tests like getting her to look one way and pinching her and if she doesn't do anything there is a possibility.. thats just an example though.. if that isn't it then she could just be a violent kid i suggest time outs and discipline and if needed a slap on the butt.. i wasn't a violent kid but when i got a slap on the bum whenever i was bad and my parents were consistent i learned.. she just may need some more.. make sure the parents follow through with it though.. she may also be jealous of the baby.. she may have been excited to see the baby in the first place but now that the baby is home she may not like it.. show her as much attention as you can while still disciplining her when she is bad.. and don't let her touch knives or anything that is sharp.. even if she has some toys that can hurt other people like sharp or very hard big items.. take them away for being bad with them.. good luck

Answer 2

This is not normal behavior. Testing boundaries by throwing things, or hitting is somewhat normal. However when a child is seeing violence and thinks it is funny there is a problem. I'm not saying it is her parents, but maybe a babysitter or a friend can easily influence a child by letting them think that its OK to laugh. No little girl should be seeing private Ryan with or without grownups around. This goes along with gang violence and 10 year old brings guns to school and showing them off. Video games and TV are showing kids this stuff is OK. this child does need to go see a children's therapist.

Now on the other hand there is a medical condition where kids to not feel pain at all. But you would notice it, if she falls or bangs into things really hard to where a child would cry, and she doesn't do anything or even says that hurts. and if she doesn't notice if she gets cuts. Then i would take her to a doctor.

Answer 3

Small kids frequently have trouble with empathy, but I would take her to a child psychiatrist and ask about "conduct disorder". If she behaves this way when she starts school, it will not be pleasant! The earlier the intervention, the better the outcome.

Answer 4

She's fine! Don't worry about it, my sister tried to stab out my eye when i was a baby and she was four. It was a bit of jealousy and interest. Just don't let her get her hands on anything really dangerous like guns, knifes, ect. She should be normal because a lot of kids just want a reaction out of there behavior. Make sure you still hug and kiss her just like the baby. You don't want her jealousy to go too far. Good luck!!

Answer 5

Wow, that's terrible. Do things hurt her? That's unacceptable behavior for a 4 year old. She needs to be punished for her behavior promptly.

Answer 6

I'm sorry to say this but maby take her to a doctor. :(