Aggressive behaviour is when a child reacts in hostile way towards peers, siblings or adults. It can include verbal and physical aggression.

There are lots of reasons why your child might be aggressive. They might be feeling anxious and unsafe. They could be experiencing peer relationship difficulties. They might be having difficulty expressing how they feel or what their wishes are. Or they could just be trying to get their own way.

Children with conditions such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and sensory processing difficulties might also display aggressive behaviour when they feel out of control, over stimulated or anxious, or when they’re finding the sensory environment difficult.

What you might see

Many children exhibit aggressive behaviour, particularly toddlers who struggle to express themselves.

You and your child might find their behaviour upsetting, and you might struggle to support them in different environments.

While some anger and aggression is normal, it’s important to seek help if you’re concerned.

How you can help

Try to understand why your child is behaving aggressively.

  • Is it at a certain time of the day or week or when there is an increase in demands on them?
  • Has there been a distressing situation recently occur?

Making sure you have a positive relationship with your child is essential.

It’s easy for families to fall into a negative way of reacting when a child is regularly aggressive or argumentative. This can reinforce their behaviour rather than reduce it, leaving everyone feeling exhausted and negative about themselves. Changing the way you respond and focusing on the positive will help build your relationship and help your child maintain their self-esteem.
 

Praising your child as soon as you see them engaging in positive behaviours (for example sharing or playing quietly) reinforces the behaviours you want to see. Over time, this leads to more positive behaviour and reduced negative behaviour.

Introducing reward charts can be helpful as it reinforces the behaviours and helps celebrate success. Reward charts are usually more successful when they don’t include daily boxes but instead are pictures on which your child can place stickers or ticks. This removes the chance of your child becoming disheartened when they don’t gain stickers one day. Make sure your child is clear on what they need to do to earn the stickers. Agree together how many stickers they need to collect before earning an agreed reward such as a video night, having a friend round for tea or choosing what your family has for dinner.

Having clear boundaries is important so make sure they’re consistently reinforced by everyone. Children feel safe when they’re sure of the boundaries. They will still try to push against these, but knowing that your response is always consistent will help with this.

It’s also helpful to ‘choose your battles’. Decide which minor behaviours you’re able to ignore. Children will often misbehave to gain parental attention. If you ignore these behaviours, they should reduce as your child learns that they only get attention for positive behaviour.

Looking after your own emotional health is also crucial. The more relaxed you feel, the more able you’ll be to respond in a calm way that can reduce your child’s aggressive behaviour.

If your child’s behaviour is putting them or others at risk, you might want to seek support and advice.