6 Year Old Wont STOP Stealing Food!!?
Answer:
Sometimes children with ADHD have no concept of cause and effect. They are also in need of a very strict schedule with little variation. It may help if you sit down with him and make him a schedule of his day. What time meals are, when snacks are, etc. (I think all 6 year olds are enamored with food) Then perhaps his tendency to sneak them will go down when he can depend on the fact that at 2PM he's getting one, or whenever.
Simply telling him he's in the wrong is obviously not a big enough deterrent to keep him from doing it. You have to "bring it home" in a manner of speaking. What does he LOVE to do the most? Watch TV? Everytime he steals, he loses TV that day, if he does it again that day, he also loses it the next, etc. Video games? Trading Cards?
Other deterrents that come to mind are...taking away the door to his bedroom. If he can't be trusted then he shouldn't be trusted at all and should have to earn the right to have his door back. Create a list of really unpleasant chores to choose from...
my son and his friend thought throwing rocks over the house was big fun.until it hit his friend's father's BMW. The boys had to wash the car and they had to move the whole pile of rocks from one place to another. They were so sick of rocks by the time they were done they couldn't even think about throwing them.
Punishment and behavior modification can take many forms and none of them need include corporal punishment. Inane tasks (like moving rocks from one place to another) wear the kids out and is a punishment that is not only sensible but extremely effective.
Good luck during this phase with your son. The time and the effort you put into teaching him to "use his powers for good instead of evil" will pay off in the long run.
My first instinct is get the locks of the cabinet... make him accountable for his actions... you should be able to trust him in your own home...
There has to be a way to motivate him... be it positive reinforcement (giving him a reward for proper behavior) or punishment (taking things away... or making him do things he doesn't like)...
this however doesn't seam like a simple mater of behavioral training... it seams deaper than that... counceling could be appropriate...
I don't know the situation well enough though... so I will just suggest trying whatever you haven't tried.. if you punished him before ... try rewarding him for being good...
I don't know what else to tell you ... good luck...
My 10 year old daughter did the same thing when she was younger. She has ADHD as well and the doctors said she would grow out of it. The chemicals that the brain puts out works differently for a child with ADHD and because of this they do things that cannot be explained. Try getting a few books on ADHD from your library-I remember they had great suggestions for me but unfortunately I cannot remember them. Lastly be strong and do not make a bigger deal out of this it could lead to eating disorders because he will associate food with punishment. Get the locks and lock up anything with sugar. It tends to calm an ADHD child which might be a reason. Hope this helps.
my sister in law is adhd. u couldn't get her to stop hitting when she was younger and is now twenty year's old and still hitting .her mom said the doctor told not to correct her in anyway that she going to do what she want's anyway . but she is the baby of the family and get's spoiled all time. so i guess mom and pop gets to keep a little girl all their life now. and she know's right from wrong .but one day she's going to turn on them whip their tail. then what?climbing on people car's twisting wiper blade's ,cracking wind shield's but mom won't pay for brokin wind shield's she just say's so ! what u going to do?
I did the same thing when I was that age. I don't think I'm ADHD or ADD but I am bi-polar. Might want to take him to see a shrink. He may be doing this because he is stressed. I know I was a stress case then before I got medicated.
There is a disorder that involves hyperactive eating. Try consulting a doctor. Sometimes people with this have eaten themselves to death! not to scare you. very sorry :( Try disciplining more. Be stern. It should help.
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