Agressive two year old

My son recently turned two and is giving my day care provider problems when ever she tries to tend to the newborn she is also taking care of.  He throws toys and clears shelves in a distructive manner.  I think that his two year molars are coming in. Could this be contributing to the problem?  What can we do to curb this behavior, before he hurts one of the other children or the baby?  HELP!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Dear Brandi,

There's no doubt that the discomfort precipitated by new teeth pushing through can contribute to irritability with toddlers, but it probably doesn't explain his aggressive behavior.

Did this behavior have a sudden onset? Is it associated with the arrival of the infant? Does your son display such behavior in other settings? How is the day care provider dealing with it? Have any interventions been helpful?

Generally, time out in a chair for a few minutes is an effective tool to help stop aggressive behavior. But it's important to determine the pattern of the behavior. What precedes the behavior - i.e., what appears to set it off? Is it predictable? What follows the behavior? It may be that preventive measures designed to address the precipitants of the behavior will be as important as responding in a disciplinary fashion (though this is necessary) to the aggressive behavior.

The information in this forum is intended for general education. Always address particular questions about your child's health to your pediatrician or health care providers.

[Laura Jones]

I have some what the same problem in my daycare with a two year old.
He throws a temper tantram the minute his father drops him off. screams. jumps around. throws him self on the floor. or pounds his head on the wall. He has been here since july and still doing this.
When he is frustrated he will kick the one year old babies in the head when they are down crowling. or he will sit inthe middle of their backs. or on their heads.His parenting class said this is normal for a two year old, and I should keep the babies in their beds the whole time that child is here. His time is 12 hours long.




He pushes the other children down if they have a toy he wants. He will go up to the children and kick them for no aparent reason.
He will pull out the cat'swhiskers, strangle the cat, pull his tail, or squeeze his paws untill the cat crys out.
Hit the dog on the head untill she reacts. Now the dog grawls if this child walks in the space of the dog.
Father thinks this is normal behavore of a two year old. He thinks I have not had enough experiance with two year olds. I have been in this business for 30 years and raised three children into their 30's.

[Steve Givens]

I think the parents should take some child development classes and learn how to rear a child.  This child has learned his aggressive behavior from his home environment.  Most parents do not understand the theory of modeling behavior and also the theory of discipline at home will cause behavior problems at daycare or school.  Aggressive behavior is learned behavior.

[jmoore0105]

A related discussion, please help was started.