Behavior Changes When Either Bored, Tired or Hungry

The Little Man seems to have a bit of an issue with behavior changes, especially when he is either bored, hungry or tired.  There are things that you notice and that you can do to help the situation.

Being his Mum I am able to see these changes instantly and have now worked out which one is the problem. Sometimes I am able to fix it, but sometimes when it goes to far it is much harder.

Some things that I notice with the different situations

Bored

Symptom
Seems to always be getting in trouble - don’t do this, don’t do that, He is just trying to get your attention, and he will do anything to get it, trying to get you to do something with him.

Solution
Obviously this is an easy one to fix, as you just have to play or find him something to do. Not always that easy when you are busy cooking dinner or on the phone.  The hardest days I find when this occurs is on rainy days, as you are stuck inside all day. The Little Man likes to do craft or play with the play doh, these are things that I can steer him towards doing, and once he has something to occupy his mind he is fine. Then you have to find a different thing for Little Miss to do or you end up with arguments anyway.

Tired

Symptom
Gets very frustrated and cranky. He has this face that he makes, it is such a cranky face, I really don’t like it at all.  The trouble with this is that he just seems to take his frustration out on us, he will hit you as you walk past, or push Little Miss over, or squash her to the ground and he will have that cranky face while he is doing it.

Solution
As mentioned in Just one of those days, when I can see he is frustrated, I say to him that it is ok to be frustrated, but you mustn’t take it out on anyone. You need to move away, find something else to do, draw, play with your playdoh. You don’t need to hit or push, it doesn’t make it any better.  You just end up hurting someone.

Since he cut out his day sleep this has been a difficult one to stop happening. You can usually guarantee about 3.30-4pm it will start. Sometimes I am able to get him to sleep in the car if we are going anywhere, other wise there is not much I can do, I have started to put him to bed a bit earlier to compensate for it, but it doesn’t make the afternoons any better. Lots of distraction helps, and deep breathing :).

Hungry

Symptom
This is a strange one, he seems to go really hyperactive when he is hungry, he just runs around like a crazy thing. He doesn’t seem to be able to stop himself, I am sure that it must have something to do with the drop in sugar levels, he just needs the food to boost him back up and calm him down.

Solution
Easy to fix this one, fortunately. A piece of fruit or a savory biscuit helps, bananas are the best choice. If it has gone a bit to far and needs fixing quickly a fruit bar or dried fruit fixes it faster. It has a higher natural sugar content than the real thing.  I try not to give him to much to close to dinner though or he just won’t eat it.

See so you are not alone, you just thought that your child was the only one that did crazy things when they were bored, tired or hungry. But alas this is not true, there are others of us out there who are dealing with the same things. I feel for you all of you that do.

How do you deal with the situation?

Tomorrow I will post about Sugary foods changing childrens behavior, so stay tuned.