is this normal?

[singledaddy]

My 5 year old daughter has been really destructive lately. It started about two weeks ago with her taking her mattress off of her bed and smearing makeup on the board under it. Then she decieded to poop in the same place and smear it on the board,mattress,sheets,and comfetor. She had a bean bag dog she cut it open and covered the floor in beads.(I'm still picking them up) She has also cut up a few other stuffed animals. Is this a stage? Is it normal? She gets plenty of attention,pretty much whatever she wants. I just don't understand whats going on with her.

[fuzzy]

Wow sounds like you've got your hands full! Well,I have to tell you this is not normal behaviour for a 5 year old especially the poop thing! I think you should probably consider talking to your doctor about this.You mentioned that this is not something she usually does so can you think of anything that happened within the last couple weeks that would of caused these sudden behaviours? If you can't think of anything you should also ask the other people in her everyday life like teachers/caregivers. Good Luck! I hope you find some answers!

[autymsmommy]

I have to agree with fuzzy. This behaviour does not sound normal to me. When my daughter was 5 she did as most children in her kindergarten class did - learned the power of talking back. I have to say that I haven't really heard of that type of destruction out of the "terrible twos"... However my daughter did get very destructive about 6 months ago. She was destroying everything in her path and flying into rages, a child psychiatrist tryed to diagnose her as bipolar, luckily her teacher talked me into a second opinion, so I took her to a child psychologist (no medical degree, no medicine), 6 months of behavior therapy and alot of patience revealed that she was merely having a more severe than normal reaction to switching schools. I am not trying to tell you not to seek professional help - quite the opposite. However, be careful. Some professionals will see only how severe your daughter's behaviour is now, make a rash diagnosis, and not take into consideration that this is not how things have always been. My advice to you would be to ask her teacher or pediatrician for a good recomendation to a child psychologist, who will tell you what steps you need to take, and who else (if anybody else) you should see. Good Luck!