Tell me about your 3 year old...

newbeebride05

OK so is it just our DS or is this the "three year old stage"....he turned 3 in June, and is all of a sudden become this "little boy" not a toddler anymore, but also very

-whiny, independent, sassy, thinks he's in charge of the house, says and does exactly what we tell him not to, VERY attention seeking

 Don't get me wrong, he can be a very sweet, compassionate, and well mannered boy when he wants to...but wow the whining is getting to me! He also has a 6 month old brother, and at first I thought it was the transition to being an older brother, but more and more I think it's just the 3 year old thing...we try to give him tons of attention, and do many things one on one "special times" with either my DH and him or me and him...never seems to be enough!

Halo79RN

it's probably a combo of being 3 and a new baby.   My dd is very sassy and independent now.. we say no, she says yes, we tell her the sky is blue, no it's red.  whatever.   if she's nasty to us, I correct her once, then ignore her.  If she's being mean, I'll explain that I don't want to play with her if she is going to speak to me in this way.  why would I want to play with someone who argues with me and who hurts my feelings???  Some days are better than others.  I hear it gets better at 4.  yay!

howleyshell

Mine turned 3 in July.

The behavior you're describing is ending for us now.

He went thru that around 2.5.

I'm sorry.  Hang in there and stay strong.  Be consequence oriented (ie: Parenting with Love and Logic) and you'll get thru it! 

jlw2505

They say 3 is way worse than 2 and I believe it and I also think having a new baby in the house is making it worse for you.  My DD also turned 3 in June and the whining drives me up a wall.  She tries to be so independent and wants to help which is great but also leads to a lot of frustration.  We work with her a lot on using words and not whiney/crying before asking/telling us what she wants.  We try and keep her very involved in helping with things and let her do some more big kid stuff which all seems to help.  We also have her help with things like clearing her plate after dinner and talk about things that big girls do.  Some days are really trying and some days I can really see the light at the end if this tunnel.  I once read that phases tend to come in 6 month spurts so I am hoping the bad part of the 3's is half over already.