Health Tip: Deal with a Child's Aggressive Behavior

By Diana Kohnle
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

(HealthDay News) -- Children can behave aggressively as they learn how to appropriately express their emotions.

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers these suggestions for parents when children behave aggressively:

• Teach your child the rules of the home, and be consistent in enforcing them.
• Remove temptation (such as keeping forbidden items out of reach) to help reduce instances of tantrums and aggressive behavior.
• Smile at and praise the child for good behavior.
• Explain to your child that calmly using appropriate words is a better way to express anger than biting, hitting or kicking.
• Stress that it's not important who started aggressive behavior, and that it's never appropriate to act aggressively or to hurt someone.
• For children as young as one year, use a time-out to help the child calm down.