My nephew is 6 years old and constantly telling people that he likes pain. He’s been like this since he could talk, trying to jump off of things or ask other kids to kick/hit him. He’s also hurting others. For example, he was laying down on the couch next to my mother and he proceeded to kick her in the face. Or he hits your stomach whenever he walks past or gets verbal by telling people they’re ugly/stupid/stink. I can’t leave him alone with my dog either. She’s very sweet and good around kids, but he will pet her and act as if he will poke her eye or pinch her (he hasn’t done that (yet), thank God, but I will never leave them unsupervised).
This afternoon I walked the dog with him and he started telling me how much he likes pain. I told him that he should treat himself with love and that he shouldn’t hurt himself, but he continued to talk about how it excites him. He also hyper focuses on repeatedly telling people that he’s hurt whenever he injured himself on purpose. He did it right after by hitting his head on the side of the car door — I could see that it wasn’t an accident, cause he was checking if I looked when he started bumping his head. He also fantasizes about breaking something or lies and says that he ones broke his leg/arm/foot.
My sister is a strict person, but she never hits or screams at her children (the same for her husband). She’s a children’s psychologist for kids up to 18 years old and her husband is a teacher for severely maladjusted children (excuse me if this is not how you say it, English is not my first language). You’d think they’d know how to approach the situation, but nothing helps. My other nephew (10) is very empathetic/sensitive and well behaved, they’re polar opposites. Our family is aware of the situation and we all correct him when he’s acting like this, but it doesn’t stop. In general, in our family this is the first time that a kid behaves like this.
Would love someone else’s perspective, what to do?
This afternoon I walked the dog with him and he started telling me how much he likes pain. I told him that he should treat himself with love and that he shouldn’t hurt himself, but he continued to talk about how it excites him. He also hyper focuses on repeatedly telling people that he’s hurt whenever he injured himself on purpose. He did it right after by hitting his head on the side of the car door — I could see that it wasn’t an accident, cause he was checking if I looked when he started bumping his head. He also fantasizes about breaking something or lies and says that he ones broke his leg/arm/foot.
My sister is a strict person, but she never hits or screams at her children (the same for her husband). She’s a children’s psychologist for kids up to 18 years old and her husband is a teacher for severely maladjusted children (excuse me if this is not how you say it, English is not my first language). You’d think they’d know how to approach the situation, but nothing helps. My other nephew (10) is very empathetic/sensitive and well behaved, they’re polar opposites. Our family is aware of the situation and we all correct him when he’s acting like this, but it doesn’t stop. In general, in our family this is the first time that a kid behaves like this.
Would love someone else’s perspective, what to do?
