Scenario: 3-year-old child hitting 1-year-old sibling

Considerations:

• Possible causes for 3-year-old’s behaviour
• Possible changes to 1-year-old’s behaviour

• Is this a new behaviour?
• Is this an old behaviour that the parent has only just decided to talk about?
• Has something changed in the home?
• Ill health
• Not eating properly
• Not sleeping enough
• Daily activities changed
• Attending afternoon session at early childhood education centre
• Moved into a bed
• Has younger sibling sharing bedroom
• Having nightmares
• Not relaxing properly
• Frustration
• Having trouble saying what they want or need
• Having trouble doing what they want to do

—   Intellectual development

—   Social–emotional development

—   Physical development

—   Vision/hearing

• Stress
• Younger sibling getting into everything
• Younger sibling crying a lot
• Younger sibling getting most of parents’ attention
• Mum and dad having problems
• Jealousy
• No special time with mum and dad
• No place to play without interruption
• Has learned that hitting is okay
• Family situation has changed
• Awake more
• Now mobile — crawling, walking or climbing
• No place to play without interruption
• No special time with mum and dad
• Has learned that crying gets attention from mum and dad