Children at a certain age may begin to act difficult or defiant, from refusing to do what their parents asks them to insisting on doing what they want. We will discuss a few possible reasons why this behavior is surfacing.

Often, the reason why children act like this is simple. The child may be hungry, tired or bored and acting like this is a way for them to express their feelings. Other reasons why children’s behavior becomes difficult include:

Seeking Attention

Children’s behavior may become difficult when they are trying to get your attention. You can deal with this by giving the child attention when their behavior is good, not when they are behaving badly.

Stress

Stress in children negatively affects their behavior and leads to more problems and tantrums. Sources of stress in their life include problems at school, such as being bullied or worrying about grades. Children can also notice it when their parents are having a bad day and feeling stressed, and this can cause them to become stressed themselves.

Reinforcing Bad Behavior

Your child’s difficult behavior may be the result of the way you handled previous bad behaviors. You may have offered your child some candy to calm him down when he had a tantrum. This teaches the child that tantrums can help him get what he wants, and leads to more behavior problems. Try to reward your child’s good behaviors so they can realize what you expect of them.

Change

Life changes can trigger difficult behavior in children. These changes can include anything from moving to a new house to having a baby.

Illness

Sometimes, children can become difficult when they are not feeling well. If your child is acting uncharacteristically difficult, ask them if they are feeling pain somewhere in their body.

Mental Health Issues

Children’s bad behavior can be the result of them having a mental illness or a learning disability. This can be difficult to recognize and require expert evaluation.

It is important to remember that your child’s bad behavior is not your fault, so do not blame yourself for it. Do not blame your child for their bad behavior too, and always show them how much you love and care about them; this can go a long way in dealing with their bad behavior.