Does My Three Year Old Daughter Have a Behavioral Issue?

Updated on October 02, 2015
K.G. asks from Ethel, WA
15 answers

My three year old does not make friends easy. The neighbor kids make fun of her and she tells fibs all the time. She is hyper and when she was younger hated loud noises. Should I be worried?

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So What Happened?

Thank you for the feedback. I know my post was short as it was late and I happened to come across this mom's site. I'm not sure why some would be so quick to judge and say my daughter is unsupervised. She is never left alone. I just notice the kids laughing at the things she says and talking amongs each other. I can't help but feel protective over my child.

Featured Answers

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

3 year olds often don't make friends easily. and are often hyper.

why are the neighborhood kids allowed to tease a little girl barely out of toddlerhood? or conversely, are you over-hyping the normal rough ribbing that goes on in wolfpacks? not enough information.

3 year olds do not have a developed sense of truth and 'fibbing.' she needs help in differentiating, and she doesn't need to be punished for doing something she doesn't understand. i suggest learning more about childhood development.

i hate loud noises. lots of us do.

if this is real, i'm worried about the little girl. you seem to have a pretty nebulous idea of what's within the normal range for 3 year olds, and the range is pretty wide. it's also a fact that modern parenting seems to involve a worrisome tendency to look for 'behavioral issues' in every tantrum, pout and daydream.
khairete
S.

8 moms found this helpful

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R.B.

answers from San Francisco on

I hope this is a troll.

She's THREE. Lighten up, let her be who she is, and give her lots of LOVE and attention. PLAY with her. Three year olds do not tell "fibs." At three, we usually call that 'pretend' or 'make-believe'. You really need to learn about child development, right away.

5 moms found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

3 yr olds aren't very social yet.
Sometimes they are 4 or 5 yrs old before they can play well with others.
I wouldn't be happy with the neighbor kids bullying anybody much less a toddler/pre-schooler - she doesn't need to be around kids like that.

3 moms found this helpful
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N.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

parentcenter.com

Put in your information and you can get daily, weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly emails as to what your child should be doing developmentally and what should be coming next.

3 moms found this helpful
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D..

answers from Miami on

Please learn something about child development. She is only 3 years old and you act like she's 7 or 8. You should be putting her in an environment with other children closer to her age with adults who are supervising, like at Mom's Morning Out or preschool.

If you don't figure this out now, you WILL have problems later on.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

What does her doctor say?

2 moms found this helpful

C.T.

answers from Santa Fe on

Often 3 year olds play side by side with other 3 year olds...instead of with them. I would not let her play with a group of older neighborhood kids of different ages unless I was there to supervise. The big kids I have seen usually think 3 year olds are cute but they don't want to play with them. If there are neighbor kids who are say 5, they are ahead developmentally but still may not be mature enough to deal with a 3 year old properly. How do they make fun of her? I would schedule her time to play with another 3 year old. Provide toys, puzzles, a water table, a sand box, play doh, paints and let them have fun together. Stay with them and supervise. I'm not sure what you expect from your 3 year old and your post does not contain much specific information. I would not worry if your 3 year old does not like loud noises...many 3 year olds hate loud sounds like the toilet flushing or alarms...it really worries them. I would not worry yet about fibbing...her brain is not developmentally ready to understand. Just calmly remind her what she should say and what the truth is.

2 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from St. Louis on

Considering she is only three, we are not doctors, specifically psychiatrists, and you gave very little information, no idea

Crystal, why did you change your name?

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M.J.

answers from Sacramento on

Take your concerns to her pediatrician. He/she will tell you if it's all normal or not. At three, our son was showing the strong signs of ADHD (which we didn't know at the time), and when I asked the pediatrician for guidance on the behavioral issues, he told us it wasn't typical behavior and referred us to a child psychologist. Pediatricians are pretty skilled in determining what it normal and not at a particular age.

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O.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Is this a legit question? She's 3. Yes she will have behavior issues. Check out the website Gamma mentioned or maybe get some parenting books to help you understand what to expect at each age. Good luck.

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T.D.

answers from Springfield on

without observing your child i cannot say if her behavior is normal or not. if you can find a story time for her age group at a local library or book store then you will be able to observe other children her age, you will also see if she fits in or stands out. at our local library they ALWAYS have folks from the head start, and first taste programs (public school programs) and they are ready and willing to share their knowledge of whats normal and what should be evaluated by a pro.
since your child is 3 talk to the school and see if they have programs for 3 yr olds and if she could be evaluated for behavioral issues.
and as others have said, the pedi should know whats normal and whats not. so you could start there too.

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E.J.

answers from Chicago on

Are you worried about her making friends or if there are behavioral issues? They are two separate issues.

If she is not making friends this may be normal for her development. Try putting her in structured groups as playdates.. Sometimes these are offered at the library or park districts.

If it is behavioral then start keeping a list of where, when and what is happening when they occur so when you talk to your pediatrician you can be thorough. More information is needed then what you put in this post.

Either way it doesn't sound like she should be playing with the neighborhood kids unsupervised. Maybe just one friend at a time supervised, if at all.

Hope you find some answers.

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D.D.

answers from Boston on

How do the neighborhood kids make fun of her? Since she's 3 I'm assuming that an adult is with her when she's outside and that adult would be able to step in and guide the older kids away from picking on a baby.Sounds more like a lack of proper supervision that is putting her in a situation where she's the target of mean kids.

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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

A 3-year-old is too young to play with older, more independent neighborhood kids. She's going to be seen as an annoying interloper.

At this stage, her primary playmate is You. She may play with the kids she sees at preschool (if applicable), and with the similarly-aged kids of other parents that you know with whom you set up structured playtimes.

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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

She is three. Three. Three isn't enough time in anyone's life to figure out if there is a behavior problem. If she has no teeth, flails things across rooms (actually that might be a three year old thing, too) or bites people with the teeth she has, maybe do something about it. If she cannot utter words, make sounds, screams a lot like in pain but none anyway, then check. But otherwise three is three. Love her. Love her and love her. The end.

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