How would you handle this (Almost 3 y/o acting like a baby frequently)

KelliLynee

DD will be 3 in June. (We are expecting baby #2 in September). She is a very good talker and can always make her needs/wants known, but for the past few months she has been acting like a baby and then getting upset when we don?t understand what she wants. She started this before we were expecting, but it has continued to be quite a long phase and with #2?s arrival getting closer, I really need some guidance on how to handle it. I know that it is totally normal, and at some points we did (and sometimes still do) give in to her being ?the baby? but it gets to a point where she will point to the fridge and whine instead of saying ?momma can I have a peach please?? (which is her normal). Not a big deal, but when I tell her that I don?t know what she wants, she will sometimes throw massive tantrums. Or, at best, she will command ?peach!?

 

I believe she is trying to impersonate her little 18 month old friend from the babysitters, who we love dearly, but we love our little talker and DH and I lose patience quicker than we want to when DD starts whining and shouting out commands while pretending to be this other little kid. (I don?t think she realizes the difference between her 18 month old friend only being able to say ?peaches? and her commanding ?peaches!?).

 

Can anyone offer some guidance on how you would handle this situation. In an effort to keep this post short, I haven?t gone into detail about what we?ve tried, but I?ll just say that we sometimes give in to it, if she is just being playful, because we certainly don?t want to squash her creativity, but at the same time we have been trying to enforce ?using your words? in certain situations, rather than giving into her commands while she is being a bit of a bossy  baby : )  

 

Oh, it also has been showing up at bedtime too. When she usually will just pick a book or toy or song or whatever she wants to do for bedtime routine, she has been refusing to speak and we are left guessing what to do. DH thinks we should give her a certain number of opportunities to tell us and then walk out, but I have a hard time doing that. I want my little girl to go to bed happy and with no tears on her little cheeks, and I probably try to reason with her a bit longer than is helpful in the long run.

 

Thanks for any help!

arcook0307

Even if you aren't "religious", I love this mom's approach to whining!   HTH!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJfSZn2tI2g

honkytonk_kid

A friend from our church is dealing with this too- I think her daughter is a little older that yours, but she does the same pointing and whining, or babytalking ("Me tell" instead of "I'll tell you"). They say things like "Yes! That's how a little baby would ask! Now how would a big girl ask for it?"

If you can tell she's just being silly, you could try being even sillier- "How would a puppy ask for it?" and bark/pant with her, then "Uh oh, I'm not a dog mama! How would a bird ask?" and chirp, then "Uh oh, I'm not a bird mama! How would a big girl ask?" Then you're not really "giving in" because she still has to use her words, but it might distract her enough to avoid a tantrum.

nosoup4u

Three sucked SO BAD with our older son. SO BAD. I'll add more later, on my ph now!

ETA: Have you tried ignoring the baby talk? I know things get worse with my son if we make a big deal about them (which is so easy for me to say, but a lot harder to implement IRL). 

This book might be worth reading, the blogger Ask Moxie loves it. It's basically about how three is a really hard age, and the general mindset to have to be able to put up with it. hth!

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Three-Year-Old-Louise-Bates-Ames/dp/0440506492

0231654

Good Luck

 

 

 

StrawberryAlarmClock

This is an awesome idea!

Sorry. Meant to quote honkytonk and it won't let me delete this.  

StrawberryAlarmClock

honkytonk_kid:

A friend from our church is dealing with this too- I think her daughter is a little older that yours, but she does the same pointing and whining, or babytalking ("Me tell" instead of "I'll tell you"). They say things like "Yes! That's how a little baby would ask! Now how would a big girl ask for it?"

If you can tell she's just being silly, you could try being even sillier- "How would a puppy ask for it?" and bark/pant with her, then "Uh oh, I'm not a dog mama! How would a bird ask?" and chirp, then "Uh oh, I'm not a bird mama! How would a big girl ask?" Then you're not really "giving in" because she still has to use her words, but it might distract her enough to avoid a tantrum.

This is an awesome idea. 

KelliLynee

nosoup4u:

Three sucked SO BAD with our older son. SO BAD. I'll add more later, on my ph now!

ETA: Have you tried ignoring the baby talk? I know things get worse with my son if we make a big deal about them (which is so easy for me to say, but a lot harder to implement IRL). 

This book might be worth reading, the blogger Ask Moxie loves it. It's basically about how three is a really hard age, and the general mindset to have to be able to put up with it. hth!

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Three-Year-Old-Louise-Bates-Ames/dp/0440506492

I'm a little late getting back to this post, but thank you (all) for the resonses and thank you for this book recommendation. I'm sure this is one of many challenges we will face, and I would love to have a better insight into her little mind

To answer your question, we do try ignoring it, but we kind of suck at that. She gets worked up and flops all over while screaming and I have a hard time ignoring her screaming/crying. : (