whats wrong

i have had my friends 3 year old son for the past six months. when i first started taking care of him he acted nervous all the time. going to the bathroom on his self. if i told him come eat he would cry, if i told him go sit down he would cry. if i said it nice and low or lound he would cry. or he would look at people with a mean look on his face like a grown person would. u know the saying if looks could kill. thats how he can look at a person. he does not play with other kids for a long time he always seems sad. but on the other hand he is very smart but to me not the right kind of smart.when is mom comes around he his out of control. he picks up anybodys cup and drinks out of it. hes very sneaking. like when im sleep my 13 year old son will tell me when he was not looking the boy drinks my soda or eats the candy i told him he could not have. he wants to stay up all times of the night. once he was up for almost 2 days.he just whines and cries about anything. to be only three hes seems to have a lot of things going on in his mind. i just want to know whats wrong.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It's important to recognize that his world has been turned upside down. Can you imagine what it must be like for a child of three years to have to leave his own parent and live with someone else? In addition, I'm going to assume that if things in his own family were going well he would not have had to come to your family. Thus, he has been exposed to inadequate parenting in his young life, thereby not having the foundation for sound emotional development. He's acting exactly like we would expect for a child who has had to undergo the experiences he has had to undergo. He will clearly require specialized services and it is crucial that his parent, or you, seek professional help through pediatric mental health providers.