Why is 3 year old hitting mom?

Question

What would cause a 3 year old to suddenly become very aggressive toward their mom? This child is very good during the day for daycare but when his mom comes he becomes very aggressive, and when he is home he is hitting her and telling her he hates her. not just a little but hard and very aggressive he also tells her he is the boss. I take care of this child and she thinks it is coming from daycare but I just don't see it because he is one of the best behaved children I have.

Answer 1

He's hitting you because you're a sucky mom!

Beat the devil out of him with a cat o' nine tails!

Answer 2

Something is going on at home.  There is a reason why that child is so angry.  My 6 year old use to hit me like that until we started getting him some councling then we found out he was angry at his father for leaving us and that he was just taking it out on me.  He doesn't hit anymore once we talked it all out.  At 3 years old it is possible he has seen violence somewhere else, maybe his father has a violent history or something, maybe he is being spanked hard to try to control him so now he is fighting back.  She needs to seek out the advice of a professional to find out what is going on before it gets any worse.  

Answer 3

Its a stage...

Answer 4

Alot of children act differently around there parent then they do around others.  When I used to babysit for my sister her 2 sons were so well behaved until she got home but after that they turned into little monsters.  My personal opinion is she is not discipling him like she should, she is probably letting him get away with quite a bit.  Im not saying it's ok to beat your children, but if anyone of my 3 hit me, or talked to me like that, somebody it gonna get there butt popped or some serious time out.

Answer 5

Sometimes kids like to push the limits.  I wouldn't read into it very much.  The reason he's probably so well behaved at daycare and not with his mom is because he gets stability, schedules, and discipline there.  His mom is probably not giving him the proper discipline and stability at home, so he's acting out.  It's really sad because she may just be too busy with work or too tired when she gets home to provide him with what you give him during the day.

Answer 6

There are several reasons for this behavior.  One could be he's mimicking the behavior he sees at home.  Two, his parents do not discipline him and feels that he is the boss.   They let him get away with this behavior and give him everything he wants (I saw this situation on Nanny 911).  

Is the mother a single parent?  Are there siblings?  I know this may be hard but ask the mother if everything is alright at home.  It's difficult to get involved in others lives, but sometimes it needs to be done.