Six year old needs to toughen up, or I'll lose it!?

Question

My son is six years old and cries over the smallest things. He had a cut on his finger and was so dramatic over it. He bumps his head and cries about it. The other day , he hurt himself five times and cried each time. I am so sick and tired of hearing it and it's also causing problems in my other relationships because no one wants to hear a kid crying all the time. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

He's SIX. Of course he's crying! He probably bumps his head "really" hard. They're sensitive!

Answer 2

the best thing to do is just ignore him when he does that..... whenever he comes in cryin over whatever, just say, "is it bleeding?" and if its not say, "oh, then its ok." and just act like its no big deal... let him know you wont pay any attention to behavior like that.

Answer 3

Ignore him

so that he can get use to that fact that you wont tolerate such behavior that needs unnecessary attention.  

You should get him into some junior club sport like boxing, football (soccer), American football, Rugby and something that is a 'contact' sport. That may 'toughen him up and show him that other kids can deal with things without resorting to crying.

Answer 4

It's just a phase. My oldest daughter went through it, now my 5 yr old is going through that too. She's not as much of a drama queen about things anymore though. She would start screaming if she ran into something, fell on the grass, got a little cat scratch, you name it. When she comes to me crying I'll ask what happened, if she's bleeding or not. If she's not I'll tell her, then there's no reason to cry~~you're fine~~go play. If she is bleeding, I bandage her up and say not to do it again, and to go play again. She's gotten to the point where she'll go in the house and doctor up some scratches and scrapes herself now without crying. She was actually hit in the forehead by an automatic door one day~~it says to stay clear of it and she knows that. Anyway, she was screaming, I asked what happened and she and her sister explained it to me. I looked at her head and said "well, you're not bleeding, you're not bruised or anything, you're fine" and that was that.

While I agree that as mom's we're supposed to be nurturing, if you coddle a child too much, they're always going to depend on you. As for the other relationships, if your friends and relatives can't deal with a crying child every now and then, they have issues to deal with themselves. Every kid cries from time to time.

Hang in there~~good luck!

Answer 5

You have to accept him for who he is.  He is sensitive.  Love him.

Answer 6

This is normally caused by parents being overly cautious when the kid is younger. It's easy to break- I promise!

My fiance and i have the same issue with our two year old. His mother treats him like he's made of glass, so if he trips (even on carpet!) he would scream like he'd been stabbed.

Thank GOD for my fiance- he found a way to give the kid independence and the ability to build up strength.

Take your kid to a park and let him run around. Don't tell him, "Oh, don't do that!" or "Oh, be careful!" Just let the kid run around and be a boy. Odds are, he'll come over after bumping his head or something. When he begins to cry wait until he calms down a bit and give him a choice: "Does it hurt enough for us to go home?" He'll probably answer..."No." Then follow with, "Okay, then. You better stop crying and go play, or we'll have to leave."

You just need to show him that crying is going to keep him from getting to do the things he wants to do. It takes a bit of time, but it works.

Our little boy, Joseph, has gotten to the point where he could be bleeding and he'll look at me (as I'm gasping) and say, "Chill out! I'm fine. I'm going to go play now."

Best of luck.

Answer 7

Have you not got a shed or cellar you could keep him in when you have visitors?

Sounds to me like he's a bit of an attention seeker and maybe a spell in the dark will strengthen his resolve?

Answer 8

ask him if hez dying.

if  he says yeah, say, "it was nice knowing ya!"

if he says no, say, "alright then."

Answer 9

Well, he definately sounds dramatic!

I would say when he starts crying get down to his level, and say "mommy will help you as soon as you settle down. I need you to talk to me so we can fix your boo boo!"

Kiss it, clean it, put a band aid on it...whatever he needs you to do!

See if that helps!

I know with my children I tell them they are ok, and they need to settle down before I can help them!

Unless they got seriously hurt...then that would be different, ya know?

But, explain to him that he can't scream and cry because you can't help him! And love him when hes hurt! maybe he just needs some extra attention!

Answer 10

He's only six, so what may not seem like a big deal to you, is obviously a big deal to him. Bumping one's head can hurt as can paper cuts or skinned knees. When my kids get hurt, I just remain calm, but also sympathetic. Because they will feed off your energy, so if you are getting flustered, it will only make your child more prone to carry on. Just let him know you are there for him and sorry he's hurt, but that he will be O.K.

Answer 11

maybe hes really crying for ANY attention..acknowledge his hurt and then say good boy for being tough! when he stops crying...good luck

Answer 12

He's only 6 and while it may not be a life threatening injury, it still hurts! Your his mother, you should want to nurture him. That said, don't make a big deal out of it when he does get hurt. Tell him he's fine and leave it at that. If you make a big fuss about it, he's going to soak up the attention.