Questions

Teens dealing with "a constant barrage of negative things"

Posted on 11/18/2017

Hello! This is not exactly a child-rearing question but it pertains to everything about being a parent. How do we keep from drowning in the pain we witness our children going through? I have a...

Overwhelmed Mom

Posted on 10/27/2017

Hi, I am a homeschooling mother of three girls ages 9, 7 and 3. I frequently feel so exhausted around my kids. I KNOW there is a better way, and I keep trying to get there... but I never quite...

Ten Year Old With Anxiety

Posted on 10/12/2017

Hello! My daughter is 10 years old. She has quite a bit of anxiety (inherited I believe). Recently, she has been confronted with the task of working on a project with another, very difficult...

Go to Sleep!

Posted on 8/24/2017

My 26 month old boy/girl twins are suddenly experiencing sleep issues after we moved them from a shared to separate rooms soon after converting their cribs to toddler beds. They have been great...

Bedtime woes

Posted on 8/13/2017

My older son will be 5 next month and shares a room with my middle child, who is 3.5 years old this month. My almost-5 year old has started having nighttime fears and is coming out of his room a...

7 Year Old's Nihilistic Talk

Posted on 8/11/2017

I have a 7 year old son who just happily started second grade. He is extremely bright and normal in every way. No major discipline problems, no unexplained behavior. Sometimes he complains...

!1 Year Old Trouble Adjusting

Posted on 7/22/2017

My son is 11 yo. He has autism. Tonight he told me that he should not live because he will never be able to achieve his dreams, that he will not be able to have a wife and children because he...

Diet is a 4 letter word

Posted on 7/18/2017

I wrote before about my 7 year old son asking if he’s fat and complaining about his thighs. While I agree that it’s a teaching moment about treating others kindly, the truth is he probably does...

9 yo Worry Wart

Posted on 7/5/2017

Our 9 year old daughter is worrying about everything! This started a few months ago. She worries about liking boys, wrong thoughts about other people's race or weight, thoughts about kissing or...

11-yr-old tummy troubles or just seeking attention?

Posted on 6/17/2017

Our 11 year old daughter began expressing stomach discomfort in early spring (i.e. VERY frequent complaining). In the absence of obvious illness (diarrhea, pain in night w/disrupted sleep, etc..),...

7 year old trying not to be mean

Posted on 6/15/2017

What do you suggest to help a 7 year old girl to resist "mean girl" behavior when that's what she's seeing among her peers? Mean girl meaning whispering, sassy talk, exclusion, etc. We encourage...

Separation Anxiety for 3yo

Posted on 6/4/2017

To piggyback on my previous question, I need any advice on how to approach separation problems for my 3 (almost 4) year old son. My husband and I teach his Sunday School class every other week,...

Losing Grandpa

Posted on 5/24/2017

It is difficult to type this but I find myself in a situation I have never had to face. My husband and I have been parents to out Grandchild since his mom left about 20 months ago. During her...

11 yo, Depressed, Won't Do School Work

Posted on 5/15/2017

We read him the riot act and lowered the boom. It's the first time our son (11) has been grounded. He has been refusing to do his school work. He sits and stares at his math book for hours, even...

4 yo Doesn't Want to Go to School

Posted on 4/23/2017

Hi Gurus, Our 4-year-old has been very upset about going to school (pre-k) lately - tonight she was crying and saying she doesn't want to go to school, ever ever ever. She attends an after-school...

6 year old's disturbing comments

Posted on 3/31/2017

Our fairly happy 6 year (almost) 7 year old has said a few disturbing things recently. About a week ago out of the blue he told me that he has thoughts of hurting/killing someone with a knife. ...

Ignoring Bad Habits

Posted on 3/4/2017

My 3 and a half-year old boy has a habit of biting, sucking, or chewing his knuckle while thinking, when upset, worried, etc. It's been growing in frequency and I'd like to stop the habit before...

Negative self talk at 7

Posted on 3/4/2017

I have a 7 year old son. He was diagnosed with high functioning autism at 4 mainly due to social behaviors. He mainly struggles with controlling his emotions. For example, he has trouble getting...

10 yo Autistic Trouble with Abstract School Assigments.

Posted on 2/22/2017

My son is in 5th grade. He has autism. It's really hard for him to talk about him and to express ideas when come to write ideas and team work. It's more and more hard at school. They have to...

2 Year Old Pacifier Attachment

Posted on 2/9/2017

Suggestions for taking away pacifier for 2 year old that is VERY attached? She also has a blankie, which she associates with her paci..

Toddlers and Resilience

Posted on 2/9/2017

I resigned my job to stay home with my 26 month old son and will soon have a baby end of April. When I resigned we had to give up the work daycare he was in 2.5 days a week. He seemed to miss the...

frustrated 3 yo won't talk

Posted on 2/1/2017

When my 3 year old daughter gets frustrated she will 'lock up' - not speak or express what's wrong. This usually happens instantaneously when we do something that she wants to do but we do it...

8 Year Old and Pokemon

Posted on 1/13/2017

Thank you for the content of ParentGuru. We find it affirming and encouraging as we raise our 6 children. I've seen John's answers to Pokémon questions before, but this is a little different...

Three-Year-Old Has "Trouble" Falling Asleep

Posted on 1/11/2017

When my now 3-year old son was sleeping in the crib, I'd sleep with him on his twin bed at nap time. Once we got rid of the crib (after he started jumping out), he expected - and still does - us...

Routines for Toddlers

Posted on 12/3/2016

Almost 3 years old. Month of October was in Indiana. Now in California for 7 days. No naps, no food but fries basically, and now meltdown. Could you please explain about routines to follow at this...

Ten year old with multiple issues

Posted on 10/1/2016

Adopted Female child age 10; neglect and multiple traumas, sexual abuse. She is in complete safety for 4+ years now, yet she is Hypersensitive, intense, social issues, cannot get along with...

Toddler Separation Anxiety

Posted on 9/29/2016

I have a 19 month old with separation anxiety. He throws tantrums when I leave. He will persist for more than an hour or until I come to get him. I am leaving the country for nine days in October...

New Preschool Problems

Posted on 9/23/2016

We transferred our 35 month old daughter to a new pre-school this week and she does not seem to be adjusting well there. Cries a lot when we leave her there in the morning, whines throughout the...

5 Year Old Fear of Going to Doctor/Dentist

Posted on 9/13/2016

Over the past year and a half, our 5 year old has developed a fear of going to the doctor or dentist....which I assume is common. There was no specific visit that would have caused this...meaning...

14 month old Scared, Screaming

Posted on 8/17/2016

My 14 month old son recently started acting scared of dogs and other things such as certain toys. He has always been sensitive to sudden loud noises, which has worsened recently. He is fine with...

8 yo Frequent Urination

Posted on 8/10/2016

This is a follow up question. I've taken my daughter to the doctor and she just not have any medical reason for urinating so frequently so I have been firm while we are running errands about how...

Not a "bad girl"

Posted on 7/31/2016

Hi gurus, My almost-4-year-old girl has started saying she's a "bad kid" and crying "don't you love me?" or "you don't like me?" etc. Sometimes this is response to me or my husband having...

Vacation challenge

Posted on 7/28/2016

Our 8 1/2 year old daughter became anxious when we took our cruise vacation last week. She SAID she had a great time but while we were there, she got up 4-5 times each night to go to the bathroom...

Toddler Afraid of Thunder

Posted on 7/18/2016

For a toddler, almost 2years old, is scared of thunder. Where we live it storms almost every night this time year. We have tried a sound machine, but it doesn't seem to help. She wakes up almost...

5 year old Protests Bath Time

Posted on 7/12/2016

I have a 5 1/2 year old daughter. In the last few months she has started protesting at bath time saying the water is too hot, she will cry and yell and act like it is painful and torturous,...

22 Month Old Bath Time Terrors

Posted on 7/8/2016

My 22 month old son LOVED bath time from the time he could sit up. He also loves swimming and this last week had his first trip to the beach, where he showed absolutely no fear of the ocean and...

9 year old with anxiety/ocd issues

Posted on 6/9/2016

Hello, I got John's answer today about my 9 yr old with "ocd/anxiety" like issues. Thank you so much for your response. The thing that she does that is the most frustrating is when we are...

4 yo Separation Anxiety

Posted on 3/16/2016

Our 4 yo has recently become very clingy with obvious separation anxiety. It seemed to have all started upon returning home from the hospital 2 months ago with baby #3. He is the oldest and does...

How to Best Handle Fears at Bedtime

Posted on 3/9/2016

Hello! My 6 year old daughter watched too many episodes of a certain TV show when she was sick and now she doesn't want to go to sleep at night b/c she has scary thoughts related to the TV show. ...

2 yo Wants Mom at Church

Posted on 2/27/2016

Dear John, I'm having a really hard time putting my 2 1/2 year old son in the church nursery. Admittedly we don't get to Church as often as we should, so right now it is not something he is...

Daughter with Fear of Vomiting

Posted on 2/8/2016

At age 9, our daughter had the flu and as a result vomited. She then developed a fear,worry and anxiety about vomiting. She was totally occupied with this phobia. Initially, she stopped eating for...

7 yo Nighttime Fears

Posted on 1/24/2016

P.S. to Fear/Crying/Whining I guess I only needed to sit down and write to you for inspiration to finally strike five minutes later. Tonight at bedtime we told her that when she can't sleep in...

7 yo Nighttime Fears

Posted on 1/24/2016

Fears and Whining/Crying My 7 year old daughter has a runaway imagination, a very typical one imagining creepy things are going to get her at night. We generally watch her media intake and what...

5 yo Nightmares

Posted on 1/13/2016

My five-year-old son has been having nightmares. He has woken up and come to our room in the middle of the night for 10 nights in a row. How should we handle this?

5 yo Nightmares, Answered

Posted on 1/13/2016

I am responding to your question. (I sent my question a second time..sorry..just learning how this works.) My son is coming into our bedroom afraid after his nightmares. We are consoling him and...

11 Year Old Boy No Fashion Sense

Posted on 1/5/2016

Hello! My question is less serious than many I've read here, and this is my first time submitting a question, so please bear with me! Clothing choices: I grew up being instructed on what I was to...

Fear of Shots

Posted on 12/17/2015

Our 11 year old son is highly afraid of getting shots (we have to hold him to get his shots) and has allergies. We are concerned that if he has an allergic reaction and needs an EPI Pen it will...

Fear and Anxiety

Posted on 12/17/2015

Our 11 year old son has had a fear of toxic substances. This first started when another boy encountered a leaking battery in a summer camp. Someone mentioned that you would die if you ate...

18 month old head -banger

Posted on 11/12/2015

I have an 18 month old son that has started head banging out of anger. If he doesn't get his way, he will immediately bash his head- into the table, chair, floor, wall, whatever he is near. Most...

Sleep in your own bed...

Posted on 11/7/2015

Our 11-year-old son is refusing to go to bed in his own room. Until recently, I had been allowing him to sleep with his six year-old sister, but my husband didn't want to let him do that anymore....

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