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Your seven-year-old child is becoming more independent and can easily perform daily tasks such as bathing by himself, dressing on his own or even making himself a breakfast cereal. Your child at this age may not need hands-on supervision but he may need constant guidance and support. Your kid may like to make his own choices and preferences at this stage. However, sometimes you may find your seven-year-old child’s behaviour to be erratic, he may talk back to you or even lie to you. Why is your kid behaving like this? There are many behavioural developments happening at this age. Here’s all you need to know about seven-year-old child’s behaviour problems and what all discipline strategies you can adopt as a parent.
What is the Normal Behaviour of a 7-Year-Old Child?
Every kid is different and his behaviour may majorly depend on various factors such as his environment, his emotional development, and his physical development. Therefore, the behaviour of a child will be greatly influenced by these factors. However, here we have some behavioural traits of a seven-year-old child:
1. The Physical Behaviour
Your kid at this age is a powerhouse of energy and may enjoy loads of physical activities. The physical activities help your kid to develop better motor-skills and gain physical strength. Though your kid may still struggle with his handwriting issues at this stage as his fine-motor skills are still developing. Because of engaging in a lot of physical activity all through the day, your child will require 10 to 12 hours of sleep at this stage.
2. The Social Behaviour
Your kid may become very friendly by this age and may also like to have many friends. He develops an attachment with his friends too. He may get close to a few and may be wary of others.
3. The Cognitive Behaviour
Your child has a better attention span by now; he is able to concentrate and will even take detailed commands or instructions from you. He may like to share or impart his knowledge or what he has learnt in school with others. He may also pick up habits from his peer group and follow them too.
4. The Emotional Behaviour
Your kid at this age is more stable in terms of dealing with his emotions. He may adjust well to any sudden changes or transitions. Though he may still find it difficult to handle or practise self-control, which will become better as he grows but he is certainly getting better at dealing with unexpected situations.
What Are Behaviour Issues in Seven Year Old Child?
Here are some common behaviour issues or some common 7 year old bad attitude problems:
1. Lying
Lying is one of the most common problems in kids of this age. It is very important to understand the root cause of it. Sometimes kids lie because they are unable to make clear segregation between reality and fantasy. Parents should analyse the circumstances and situations that lead to this behaviour in their kid.
2. Defiance
Your kid may defy your orders or simply ignore what you expect him to do. Sometimes this behaviour is an indication of your kid trying to test his boundaries with the parents and till where he can get away with it. Your kid may be establishing his likes and dislikes and thus defying what you may expect him to do.
3. Emotional Swings
It is very common for kids at this age to experience emotional swings. This is because the kid at this age is at the threshold of preteens and he is not a preschooler any longer, this may confuse him and cause emotional swings.
4. Willing to Be Affectionate in Public
You may notice your little one exercising more affection in public than in private. This may be due to the need of attention from the parents. Though this is very contrasting behaviour that is what this age is all about, that is handling confusion.
5. Anger
Anger is one of the most difficult behaviour problems in 7-year-olds. This may be described as mood swings, talking back, frustration, impulsiveness or other such behavioural traits. It is very normal for a child of this age to feel resentment or get angry; however, if the anger is getting out of control or defining your kid’s basic behaviour then you need to act.
Parenting Tips for Disciplining a 7 Year Old Kid with Behaviour Problems
Here are some tips for the parents for disciplining their 7-year-old kid with a behaviour problem:
1. Talk to Your Kid
Your kid is at an age where he is able to understand, what you tell him to do. Therefore, the first and foremost thing to solve any kind of behaviour issue with your kid is to talk to him about the same.
2. Let Your Kid Know His Boundaries
Kids who are aware or know what they are expected to do, tend to behave better. Tell your kid about his limits and what he can and cannot do.
3. Be Positive
Always adopt a positive approach in dealing with your kid; if you want respect, make sure you also give respect to your kid and his choices. Refrain from shouting or scolding your kid. Talk in a nice manner and explain the problem.
4. Make Use of Quite-Time
Ask your kid to sit quietly and think about his mistakes and behaviour, instead of you telling him what mistakes he has committed.
5. Use Logical Explanation
Try and give valid explanations for your decisions and actions and refrain from giving any illogical explanations.
6. Be on Your Kid’s Side
Help your kid in understanding his fault and mistakes and then solve various problems together. Be on his side and work on the problems as a team.
You can effectively manage various behaviour issues of your kid by following the above-mentioned tips. Alternatively, you may talk to your doctor about the same and know what can be done to solve such issues.
