Challenging Behavior

I have a 4 1/2 year old niece who chews on anything and everything. Her biting of objects seems to be getting worse. She chews toys, crayons, furniture, etc. She recently leaned over and bit the family’s couch and put a hole in the leather. All of her dolls have chewed up feet and hands. She chews holes in the …

I need to know how to handle my two year old when she is biting at day care. The owner of the center is threatening to remove her if this problem continues. Biting is a very common behavior in toddlers and really, among developmentalists is considered a “typical” though challenging behavior or stage that some (not all) children go through. …

I have two darling granddaughters. One will be 2 soon and the other is 19 months. They are both very different. My husband and I babysit the 2 year-old two nights a week from 6 to 9:30 p.m. My other little one lives in further away so we don’t see her as frequently. My inquiry is about jealousy. The two …

My daughter is 33 months and I have a few concerns about her social behavior. She seems to have a lot of issues playing with other children her age. I think it’s more of a possessive thing, but she refuses to share her toys with other children who come over for play dates at our house. She will rip toys …

My 4 year old daughter likes to ignore my husband and me when we talk to her or ask her with help in a specific task. What do we need to change to try and stop this behavior? There is an excellent article already written on this topic called “How to get your Preschoolers to Listen & Respect You“. The …

My 6 year old is literally out of control. You tell him not to do something and he does it anyways; you yell at him for something and he still does it. He keeps running and jumping onto our new $1,500 living room set; he leaves trash laying around; he is always being loud and he has peed on the …

My niece just had another baby girl, and her other girl is 8 or 9 years old. We started to notice that she’s lying quite often and for no real reason. Is this normal? It would not be uncommon for a child of 8 or 9 to be acting out or showing jealousy in various ways (such as by lying) …

Is my child trying to get my attention? The phone rings. You answer. Suddenly you hear, “Mommy, mommy, mommy!” while your child is clinging to your leg. A child who is constantly seeking your attention has not learned to enjoy playing for his/her own sake. The best way to deal with this is to ignore the child’s pleas for your …