Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum but not new to the behaviour. My step daughter (who has been with my husband since she was 2, and been with me since she was 3) has always had a temper.
As a baby she was very fussy and constantly wanted attention and has never outgrown it. She cannot play independently, she cannot keep herself busy, she is constantly following us around demanding our attention. If she can't have it at that moment she often melts down. You can spend the entire day with her playing but if you have to answer a phone she won't leave you be to talk for 5 minutes.
For years she use to pee herself if you couldn't give her attention, she did this at home, daycare and with anyone else.
We've been bringing her to a pediatrician for a year to figure out what to do with her. Reward systems never worked, time outs haven't worked (we've been doing them for nearly 3 years), yes we've even tried spanking, but nothing works.
She yells at us, threatnes us, throws things, tries to aggitate us, tries to egg us on saying things like "I will only be good if you take me to a store right now" or "if you don't take me to the park I will break all your stuff."
Her pediatrician said she thinks she has ODD, and that we should ignore this behaviour. It's only getting worse. The other day, we had a 3 hour temper tantrum over everything. The only excuse she could come up with is that she was acting that way because she was bored and everything was boring.
I'm at a loss. I don't even want to play with her anymore, half the time I dread spending time with her because we have daily battles. I'm 8 months pregnant and scared to bring her out because when she doesn't want to listen she runs away, and I can't keep up with her. I don't want her around other kids because she bosses them around and I constantly have to intervene because she's angry no one will let her boss them around.
Any advice?
I'm new to the forum but not new to the behaviour. My step daughter (who has been with my husband since she was 2, and been with me since she was 3) has always had a temper.
As a baby she was very fussy and constantly wanted attention and has never outgrown it. She cannot play independently, she cannot keep herself busy, she is constantly following us around demanding our attention. If she can't have it at that moment she often melts down. You can spend the entire day with her playing but if you have to answer a phone she won't leave you be to talk for 5 minutes.
For years she use to pee herself if you couldn't give her attention, she did this at home, daycare and with anyone else.
We've been bringing her to a pediatrician for a year to figure out what to do with her. Reward systems never worked, time outs haven't worked (we've been doing them for nearly 3 years), yes we've even tried spanking, but nothing works.
She yells at us, threatnes us, throws things, tries to aggitate us, tries to egg us on saying things like "I will only be good if you take me to a store right now" or "if you don't take me to the park I will break all your stuff."
Her pediatrician said she thinks she has ODD, and that we should ignore this behaviour. It's only getting worse. The other day, we had a 3 hour temper tantrum over everything. The only excuse she could come up with is that she was acting that way because she was bored and everything was boring.
I'm at a loss. I don't even want to play with her anymore, half the time I dread spending time with her because we have daily battles. I'm 8 months pregnant and scared to bring her out because when she doesn't want to listen she runs away, and I can't keep up with her. I don't want her around other kids because she bosses them around and I constantly have to intervene because she's angry no one will let her boss them around.
Any advice?