5 year old temper tantrums

my "almost five" year old grandson is a beautiful, gentle, loving boy, but when he gets angry, his anger is out of control.  Yells and the worst thing is that he will hit or scratch those close to him.  We put him into 10 minute timeouts - do not yell and are calm.  He always says he is "sorry", but when he gets angry, this same thing happens over and over again.  He only displays this aggressive hurting type of anger toward those he loves - not his friends or strangers.  What can we do?  Judi

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Such tantrums are developmental in nature and will wane over time. Do not try to interact with him during the tantrum. If the tantrum consists only of noise, ignore them entirely. If he is aggressive during the tantrum he should restrained until he is calm. The ten-minute time out after the tantrum is fine.