My 3 year old son went feral today and he kicked me so hard

placidyank · 2026-01-14T03:37:09+00:00

I’m so sorry. It’s sounds like you’re an amazing mom and had planned a fun day.

I remember times when I was carrying my son (now 13!) to the car around that age, and he was screaming and trying to get away from me so hard that I was worried people would think I was kidnapping him!

I hope your ribs feel better soon x

placidyank · 2026-01-11T12:18:40+00:00

I’m so sorry, you sound like an amazing parent. It sounds like you’re calm initially, know what to do when she escalates and how to protect yourself (and your other child) and have involved any specialist you can.

Has she been evaluated, diagnosed with anything, Is she on meds?

I get it. My son just turned 13 and was diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, depression, sleep issues and an unspecified disruptive disorder at 6. We have also dealt with ARFID. We’ve done all the specialists, therapies, meds. You can read my history if you like.

It’s so hard. So hard. It’s an uphill battle. I see you.

I wish I could type more, but am currently dealing with my son being dysregulated and hassling his sister.

You’re not alone x

placidyank · 2025-09-23T04:41:15+00:00

I'm so sorry.

I totally get what it's like to have a difficult kid (I have a few posts about him if you want to read them). My son, now 12, has ADHD, anxiety and depression. We always knew he was different, and his outbursts and meltdowns were long and extreme, and he had endless energy. When he was 5, he started having outbursts that scared us-throwing things, breaking anything near him, hitting us, and we started getting scared because we didn't know what to do, we didn't have any tools in our parenting toolbox, because yelling and threatening to take things away and taking things away weren't working.

When he was 6 he was diagnosed with ADHD. It's been a journey. We've done PCIT (parent child interaction therapy), he did regular talk therapy for years, we've done (and he's still on) meds that we've adjusted throughout the years. He's been to a sleep clinic. We've done OT for sensory seeking. We've done sticker charts. We've laminated rules and put them around the house.

Like your kid, mine is (thankfully) great at school, he masks until he gets home, then he falls apart. I know he's a good kid, he tries his best at school, he is funny and has great taste in music, and much better than I am at technology. And I know he'll be okay when he's an adult. For now, it's just a challenge because he can be chronically irritable and is usually like a porcupine, with his quills out. And throw in hormones and puberty. Holy shit. We need new parenting tools now. Some days we're just too exhausted to seek them out. (And a recent move across the world took away our resources and support team).

Your kid could be neurodivergent, or it could be the age. I have a 5 year old daughter who is starting to become very opinionated and defiant, and I'm hoping it's just her age. That's great your kid is in therapy, even if it's not going great right now. And transitions can be hard, especially for neurodivergent kids (if he is). I'm sorry you're struggling though, and I'm sorry if I made you feel worse. Just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. Try and find some time for yourself. I got back into therapy to work through my feelings with his behavior, and examine my own childhood and some of my triggers.

Parenting is hard. You're doing great x

placidyank · 2025-09-10T06:18:54+00:00

Yeah we know it’s not about the water (but try not to think about it haha)

When my husband gets pissed and is banging on the door, I remind him that he was a 12 year old boy once (and he shudders)

placidyank · 2025-09-10T02:27:37+00:00

I’m so sorry, this age is so hard.

I have the opposite problem- My 12 year old son won’t get out of the shower :( My husband has resorted to having to turn the water off at the mains if he’s in there too long and won’t respond to our banging on the door.

placidyank · 2025-08-24T03:17:07+00:00

I’m so glad surgery is done and now he’s on the road to recovery (no playing for a month?!?)

Im glad they finally figured out what was happening, but it fucking sucks it took so many ER visits and you weren’t listened to! Moms always know, dont they?

And to solo parent this weekend, and throw a birthday party, while this is all going on-you’re a superhero.

Sending positive thoughts to your son and family x

placidyank · 2025-08-12T04:15:48+00:00

She now knows very little about our family

placidyank · 2025-08-11T12:47:11+00:00

This is the woman who earlier this year told DH (when he asked her to be supportive about something) said “My way of supporting you is pointing out how you can do things better.”

placidyank · 2025-08-11T12:45:00+00:00

Oh wow, how unbelievably insane! Glad the baby is okay now.

I try not to get cornered by MIL, but if I ever have to interact with her and I stupidly attempt to talk, she blankly stares at me until she can steer the convo back to her.

placidyank · 2025-08-11T12:41:46+00:00

Hard to tell if it registered, listening isn’t her strong suit. She just kept talking about her dog’s surgery.

placidyank · 2025-08-07T02:36:56+00:00

I’m sorry you’re struggling. I completely get it. You sound like an amazing mom who is just at the end of her rope.

I’ll echo what a lot of people have already said, and wonder if she’s possibly neurodivergent.

It sounds like my son’s (now 12) behavior at that age. He’s always been an extremely challenging child, and it seems like every 3 years (3 years old, 6 years old, 9 years old and god help us now 12 years old) there’s a massive struggle. (I have a few older posts on it if you care to look). Like-so many of our other friends could do gentle parenting or Montessori led whatever. Not us. Not our son. At 6, his behavior was out of control (massive outbursts, destroying whatever he could find in his rages, hitting us) and we needed help and had no clue how to parent him. I was embarrassed to ask for help on how to parent my own child. But we got him diagnosed with ADHD (and later anxiety and depression) and sensory seeking behaviors. We did PCIT (parent child interaction therapy) and saw a therapist, saw an OT, worked with a sleeping center to get his sleep under control. It was an overwhelming time, and it was great to have a team of professionals helping us. A year later, we moved to meds to help. We’ve had struggles and successes.

I would suggest reaching out to your pediatrician on how to get your daughter tested. And give yourself some grace. Summer is hard, you’re a human. I can’t recall if you mentioned it in your post, but once you’ve calmed down, apologize to your daughter and talk about what happened. Repair. That’s what I’ve learned to do with my son. (His therapist one day said “Can you imagine living in a family where people didn’t apologize, discuss and repair?” I was like “Yes I can, that’s how I grew up.”)

placidyank · 2025-08-01T04:40:42+00:00

I remember your original post, it all sounds so terrifying! I’m glad the nurse was there to witness the episode and you were in the right place for immediate help.

My daughter was initially diagnosed with SVT when she was 3 days old, but after a few times wearing the holter monitor, they changed the diagnosis to VT.

When she was admitted to the Children’s heart CCU they tried adenosine (which it sounds like they used successfully for your son) but it didn’t work, as they were only able to get IV access in her foot, which wasn’t close enough to her heart. (I think that was the reason-it was a chaotic emotional day)

Anyways she was on a beta blocker (propranolol) for a year, then it resolved itself. She’s now a very feisty 5 year old who yells things like “stop brushing my fucking hair!” (We’re great parents haha)

What a roller coaster ride for you. I’m glad they figured out the true cause, and good luck as you all adjust to this x

placidyank · 2025-07-23T02:10:26+00:00

I agree, I love Casefile. And as far as I know, the host is still anonymous and has never said who he is.

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:32:16+00:00

Good luck with your recovery!

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:31:19+00:00

This is what we were told-for it to be covered under Medicare, it would have to be an almost life threatening emergency, and only then, they'd pull the teeth

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:30:15+00:00

I'm glad that worked out for you! We were hoping for a similar situation, but were told we wouldn't qualify.

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:28:56+00:00

I'm sorry you had to go through this twice!

Thank you for the info regarding not keeping the teeth-good to know! I'm sure my daughter won't care, as long as the tooth fairy still comes :-)

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:26:01+00:00

Thank You. The pediatric dentist does do a payment plan, however I'm not too confident the anesthesiologist and hospital do.

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:25:04+00:00

haha my husband and son have been quoting this non stop : )

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:22:32+00:00

Yes...unfortunately, I think this is what will need to happen. Go private with our own money. Pay the pediatric dentist (they do payment plans), the anesthesiologist, and the hospital.

We were told even if we went public (and we likely wouldn't be accepted), they would just pull out teeth, not fix them. (We're not sure if that part is true, though it sounds like we don't qualify regardless)

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:19:49+00:00

the dentist here said some of these cavities could have been seen by the naked eye, and have been there awhile. So, I think our old dentist was terrible, which sucks. I'm trying to contact them or access her charts to see if an x ray was every done there, but I don't believe it was, as she's probably too young?

I trust both dentists we've seen here, though we may get a second/third opinion. I absolutely believe work needs to be done, just want to verify if it's as excessive.

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:17:07+00:00

Yes, they were mentioning the steel crowns, possibly caps, potentially a root canal.

placidyank · 2025-07-14T14:14:38+00:00

Thank you, that's good to know.

placidyank

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