Do you Punish a five year old for...?

Question

vomiting on a rug continously? OK, my neighbor is having this problem with her son. I know this sounds really mean, but this kid purposely eats or drinks stuff in the house that will make him vomit. He told me that he does this because his mom always tells him he's supposed to go to a trashcan, sink or toilet, but he finds his mom's anger funny when she finds a big stain on her mega expensive white rugs in the house. His latest thing is swallowing stuff out of the spice cabnet like cinnamon or vigar to enduce it so he can puke and walk with it to make the stain bigger and mom even more angry. He told me this as I was baby sitting and the parents 1. don't believe that he's enducing this himself and 2. don't punish him for it.

What should be the punishment for this and what else should be done? His 12 year old sister also witnessed this and said something and parents don't believ eher either.

Answer 1

Did someone ever stop to think that items from a kitchen, when ingested by a 5 year old, can be harmful or FATAL????  Sounds like the kid should have been punished a long time ago for self-destructive behavior in order to get a laugh!  The child obviously has some sort of mental problem because most 5 year olds won't think of doing something like that.  Take him to the Dr for an eval.  If this doesn't stop, the cabinets all need to be locked!  If I thought about doing something like that as a child I'd have a foot up my rear end.

Answer 2

Obviously you first take away the food that's making him do this. Make the boy clean the carpet himself, take away his privileges if he doesn't, time-outs, the like.

This kid is really weird.

Answer 3

well the mom should not have ultra expensive WHITE rugs in a house with kids.

her fault.

Answer 4

Oh, god. I'm serious. If your going to be a mother, you should know this.

1 point of advice : BUTT OUT OF THE NEIGHBORS LIFE!

2, ask the MOTHER what she wants t do. Please, be nice to the 5 year old, Only five! Tell him, if he continues to eat things that make him vomit (After 2 times), that he will have YOU pick the foods for him next time.

Answer 5

This sounds like a psychological problem. He could end up poisening himself. The mother should care more about her son then her rugs!

Answer 6

I had this problem too before. Do what I did. If the parents have a window near the carpet, that is good. Tell them to pretend to leave but actually watch the kid in the act. If you are babysitting him, you are under controll.

-YOU punish him.

-YOU call the parents.

-YOU could even call a doctor.

Good Luck, Katie.

Answer 7

This child needs MENTAL HEALTH  and/or  MEDICAL CARE.

If he were to do this in your presence, ingesting spices, etc.,

CALL POISON CONTROL then and now.  Some spices can poison him if he takes too much.

He may be 5, but he needs to be held responsible for his dangerous behavior.

This child is sick in the head, more than his stomach.

Answer 8

are you really even asking this? clearly its not the kids fault. she should not buy the foods that make him sick, or she should put them out of reach.

as for the vomiting on the rugs, dont get such nice rugs. i mean you have children, what do you expect them to be like the kids in movies? where they sit perfectly on the couch all day watching television? its 2008....

Answer 9

It sounds like the kid needs to see a doctor. Something is not right if a five year old is doing this on purpose

Answer 10

That's really weird.  I think the parents should make it so that he can't get into the cabinets, or watch him more closely (my son never ate anything at 5 without me knowing it).

Answer 11

This child has a serious medical problem Get a video  of his behaviour to show his mother.There is not that much you cando .apart from call CPS

Answer 12

If he PURPOSELY and KNOWINGLY eats and drinks the stuff and purposely pukes on the rug, yes, punish him! Make him clean it up and work to buy a new rug.

Answer 13

hey its her fault u shouldnt have white stuff in a place with kids

Answer 14

The parents are idiots. Obviously if their son is CONSTANTLY puking he needs to see a doctor!!! Whether he's inducing it or not because either way he has a problem!!! And if he is inducing it, he may eventually swallow something that could be fatal! I don't think any punishment would really work here. If he does it just cause he thinks it is funny when his mom gets mad, his mom should do the opposite, act like she doesn't care, and calmly tell him that he must clean up the vomit himself. It would also be much easier for her NOT to care, if she took those expensive rugs out until this problem is resolved.

Answer 15

Wow. This is a family in need of some counseling.

I had a child in my pre school class that would make himself throw up if he didn't want to do something or didn't get his way. He was not nervous or upset. He would just gag till he threw up. At home, throwing up got him his way. It was pretty sad. After we finally documented it enough times, mom was able to see the pattern. She was being played by her 4 year old, big time.

I would let them know what he said and then not worry about it anymore. This is their problem, not yours. As long as he isn't eating or drinking something that could really harm him.

They will wake up soon and see what a monster they have created! Just kidding. :)

Take Care. SD

Answer 16

I am not one for giving more than one smack but if my kid was doing this on purpose because he thought it was funny he would be getting 5 really good smacks to the leg to make him realise that it is far from funny

Answer 17

There HAS to be some other dynamics at play here, of which you are probably unaware.  The vomiting thing is a passive-aggressive way to gain the attention (even though it's negative attention) of his parents (particularly mom).  The negative attention can be just as reinforcing as the positive attention.  It's important not to get stuck in the content of the behavior.  Ask yourself why he might be doing this.  What need is he serving?  It's concerning that a 5-year old has access to all of these food items which cause him to vomit.  Is there some sort of neglect happening?  Abuse?  My suggestion is that she spend more time with him and focus on rewarding the positive behaviors.  I have to say again though, that there's probably more going on than meets the eye.

Answer 18

sounds to me like someone is in need of attention, not punishment.

Answer 19

Take him to the doctor but make him wait an increasingly long time in the doctors office for each time he pukes on the rug.  Eventually he will be so tired of being at the doctors office he will stop puking.  Make sure she explains the connection.

Answer 20

How bizarre! sounds like the boy has some mental problem - seriously!

Answer 21

why dont you talk with the mom and explain with with his sister, so you can tell her 1on1 so maybe she will understand, its not like she wouldnt beleive you. if you convince her. good luck :)