Hello!

my 7 year old has started to get a bad temper and i wanna stamp on it before it gets outta hand but im not too sure of the best way, any one have any reasonable ways to show him without smacking if possible.


Want more real mum questions sent to you?

You'll need to check this email to complete your signup.
  • I believe what you are saying as smacking them I think might give him the wrong idea about discipline and may even encourage fighting etc. Perhaps ground him on the spot. Eg no pc games , TV etc. Find out what he likes then ground him for a day . Extend it further if he still wont listen . I have been fortunate as my kids were good when they were small. Now they are teenagers its harder lol


  • First of all, explain to the child what he has done wrong & WHY it is wrong.
    If the behaviour continues, time out. After time out you should expect an apology for what he done wrong. Thus showing you he knows what he did was wrong & why it was wrong.
    If the behaviour still continues, another time out & loss of something, a toy, not attending a sport event or a birthday party.
    Be firm, do not give in, & hopefully the behaviour will cease.
    Best of luck.


  • Time out is a good start. Tell them to think about why they are in time out and explain what they did wrong before letting them come back out.


  • We had a similar thing and we would send him to his room and tell him once he had worked out what he had done wrong he could come out and tell us. The reason for this is that 1. He had to consider what he had done 2. He actually had to apologise which made his acknowledge he had done wrong. I feed this process worked for us. We did also at time if he got angry at his brother for example he had to do something nice for them and that also made him consider others.


  • I send my son to his room for time out and tell him ‘you need to go and think about our attitude’. He seems to come out in about 10 minutes to tell me he has thought about his attitude and he says sorry. We then calmly discuss when he needed to be sent to his room. Other times I might say he can’t do an activity due to his behaviour.


  • MOM56312, you can talk to them while they are in time out when they calm down. Don’t put them facing into the corner. That freaks some kids out and they get more agitated and less rational. We had a favourite toy confiscated a few times. It depended how old we were how long it was for.


  • For our boys we would place them in a quiet area in the home for 10 mins and than 1 of us would go sit with them and ask what the problem was and how can we fix it for next time. If all is calm than it’s over and done with but if nothing is resolved he remains in the quiet are for another 10 min and then he loses a possession for 24 hours


  • With our boys at that age we took things off them for a set time – for example they loved lego so wouldn’t be allowed to play with it for the day. I must admit it continues to be our method of punishment but as they are older now it is the iphone etc


  • At 7 kids are going through a big transition from being a little kid to a big kid.
    This takes a toll on the kids.
    You need to reason with them, talk about whats going on. Let him tell you why he feels the way he does and suggest things to help.
    Pushing the boundaries is a big thing at that age because they are big enough to try do things for themselves. Taking away privileges helps too. Teaching your child how to deal with the way they are feeling and to talk or write about their feelings is the best way.
    Let your child choose their own punishment and see what they think they deserve


  • To be honest my oldest son who is six has some big issues, I now know this is due to a genetic condition he was born with and we are getting help for him by a pshycologist. Sometimes after the issue you need to sit down with them when they have calmed down and ask they why it happened? Sometimes they just need to be asked how they could better respond in words to what made them angery.If they dont have a answer explain one to him softley, A Suggestions i have had when they have flown off the handle instead of putting them in time Out (do what is the same thing just reworded) Call it quite time or cool down time. put them in a room with box full of suggestions how they can calm down from hug mum( this works wonders with my son), to colouring in, playing with playdough, read a book, all the things they love doing thats easy to do if there is other kids in the family but on their own. My son need 30 mins of calm down or quite time when he gets home from school so we let him watch tv in our bedroom with no one else around just so he can unwind from his day at school it has made life and issues so much easier for him and us..


  • I think that the first action to take would be to try to find out what is causing the behaviour. It could be that a situation at school, or even at home, is making him act out. Also, I believe that there can be certain ages/developmental stages where boys will have a big surge of testosterone, that would definitely make him a bit more short tempered than usual. I could be as simple as just ignoring bad or undesirable behaviour, rewarding the good behaviour, and riding it out. I know that my kids have definitely gone through, or are going through stages that can be quite challenging – but they do pass eventually! If it’s really problematic, there may even be a guidance counsellor at his school that you could talk to for advice.


  • We either do time out or take away their iPods for a little while


  • We do time out in our house but my boys are 3 and 4.


  • If two children are fighting I get them to hold hands. The first thing they say is noooo and forget what they were fighting. Swearing is everywhere today and making an huge impact on our children. Set boundaries and consequences. Get them to pick their punishment. It has to fit the crime like hand over their mobile for one day


Post your reply
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your answer and join MoM:

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join