Bi Polar?

I think most of the trouble is due to her age. My 2 year old has intense mood swings too, but my husband and I are still together. Part of it could definitely be from the divorce. It sounds like you have given her a very stable and loving atmosphere at home. If her father is not caring for her as well as he should be you should talk with him. Reconsider your guys' custody agreement maybe if he's not willing to tow the line. I think she'll grow out of most of it. My oldest child became a whole new person at about 4 1/2 yrs old. Good luck.

It is just 3 year old girl stuff!!! Really, the 3's are worse than the terrible two's! It will slow down, my 3 year old daughter does the same stuff. We are a divorced family too. But we have been since she was 1. I really don't think she knows to act up because we arent together, she is used to it. Good Luck!

I think you are dealing with the "terrible two's amidst tragedy." My oldest was the same way. Often times I thought she was acting just like a little monster. It was her way or the highway and I rarely gave in so we dealt with this monster behavior from age 18 months until just a few months ago and she is now 5. A few things helped. The first is a book called, "Parenting with Love and Logic." Very good book and it teaches you how to be not so stressed out with your childs behavior and how to curb your childs behavior into more how you would like it to be. The second thing that helped is she just grew up enough that we could communicate better. It's hard when they are little because they just don't understand and it seems there is no way to help them understand. Before my ex and I were divorced I bought a couple of self-help books for children on divorce. One is called, "When my Parents Forgot How to be Friends" and the other is, "My Family is Changing." Both my ex and I sat down with the children and read them these books and talked to them about what was going on. My oldest was 3 when we split and 4 when the divorce was final. She was 2 when my ex initially kicked us out. That was very traumatic for her. These little people seem to just communicate through misbehaving. I don't think you really need to worry about bi-polar just yet. Try getting that book and see if it helps. The two daycares my two youngest go to use "Love and Logic" techniques because they really work. Good luck!

It's probably just a combination of age and drastic hange in her life. I just wanted to make a quick note about the subject line "bipolar?" Three years old is waaaaay too young to even consider labelling a child with that diagnosis. If the possibility of that diagnosis is on your mind, put it on the back burner for about 10 years. A child psychologist may not be a bad idea for helping her cope, but right now, she's a toddler trying to figure out her world. Having a drastic reaction to a drastic event at a young age is not a mental illness. Sorry if I read too much into your subject heading, but I just wanted to clear up any worries or misconceptions on that particular aspect of it. Take care,
T.

I would guess that it's environmental and not bipolar. All the changes are hard on children, and 3 is a tough year from what I've heard anyway. I'd try to find someone who can help "coach" you through this time- maybe a counselor of some sort, who can help you deal with this before things get worse. Good luck and hang in there. I think the best advice I've gotten is that children need a lot of two things: structure and affection ("I love yous" and lots of physical affection), and they'll often act out if they don't get enough of one or both.