Emotional 3 Yr Old

Hi am a mother of a 3 year old boy he was 3 in sept also I have personally never experienced this kind of problem he is a very active child he likes to get into everything climb on everything and ignore you when he wants if I was in that situation I would talk to the doctor and see what he/she suggest I wish I could help you more but good luck

I had to laugh because my daughter is the same way. She will be two next month. And let me tell you... drama, drama, drama. Girls are so different from boys. I am hoping that it is just a phase, but I hear that with girls... it only gets worse. At least we don't have to endure it alone. Mothers of sensitive dramatic girls UNITE!!! Tee hee hee. Good luck.

Is this normal?? Well maybe! I think that part of the reason that she may be acting like this is because there is going to be a huge change in her life soon!! I am also expective baby number 3 and both of my girs are the same way. Especiall the little one. They know that there is something going on. Maybe she doesn't understand why you are on bed rest!?!
I think that you should include her in everything that you are doing to get ready for the new baby and that will help to get her mind off of her emotions. Also keep the lines of communcation open and have fun with your daughter. Pretty soon she will be the BIG SISTER and you will wonder where the time has gone!

I have a VERY EMOTIONAL 6 year old girl. She can get very upset over nothing. I call her my "Drama Queen" cuz she cries and makes big deals out of nothing just like your 3 year old. We have been dealing with this since she was 2. We have gotten use to it and it is just normal life for us. Our family Dr. says that some girls are just REALLY sensitive and thinks medication would be a waste of time. She says that she should outgrow it. In the mean time I have found ways to cope with it. If I notice her starting to look upset, we will sit down and talk about why she is upset and we have been doing this since age 3. If she looses it (balls her head off or screaming) I tell her to take a time out, but most of the time she asks me if she can take a self time out. It is NOT a punishment time out, it is just until she is calm enough to talk about her feelings. Her siblings are not allowed to be around her at that time so she can have time to just relax, think, and talk uninterupted. I really hope things get better for you and her. Good Luck! M. S.

Hi! Wow you've got your hands full!! I too had/have a very emotional and very sweet daughter. She is now 19! She did stuff like that all the time. I found that if I played into it, she would get louder and more forelorn. I found that if would tell her once, that it's ok, everything is fine and then treat it that way. That everything is fine, that the lack of an audience for her woe is me, seemed to do the trick. She would snap out of it once she realized I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. She would come out of her room and I would give her a big hug and a kiss and then do something else with her. It didn't work right away, but I stuck with it and it really worked! She is still a very sensitive person and just as sweet as can be.

I hope that helps!
M

I am going through developmental psychology right now and some children go through very emotional times, especially if mommy is expecting a new baby. I would not worry too much about her emotional state at this time. If it would happen to continue long after the babies are born, I might ask your pediatrician what to do, but for right now, just comfort her and let her know that not everything is her fault. She may be feeling some neglect since you are bed ridden and cannot do alot of things with her. I hope this helps you a little and congrats and good luck with the new babies.

AMMENDMENT TO MY ORIGINAL POST - This may offend some, but here goes anyway... Please, A., don't panic and think that your daughter has ADHD or is bipolar. PLEASE don't! Too many people run to the doctor for normal kid behavior or personality "disorders" (issues). Some people want a pill to make their kid "normal" or more manageable, but how about just letting kids be kids? I'm not saying it doesn't exist - I'm just saying, please don't be alarmed when you read the responses that say "Get her tested for ADHD...blah, blah, blah." It's overdiagnosed and misdiagnosed too much. Your little girl might be high maintenence, but it is doubtful that she has a serious problem. Mind you, you could probably find a doctor that would give you that diagnosis and write you a prescription that turns your little girl into a less dramatic, more obedient robot-like little girl, but that doesn't mean it's right (and without that drama, would she be who she is truly meant to be?) Sorry to go on this tangent - and again, I'm not saying that these disorders don't exist, or that there aren't situations that call for medication and psychological/professional help, I just see this (particularly ADD and ADHD) as a cure-all, over-used explanation for normal kid stuff... This is my opinion anyway...and I'm sure many will find it offensive, but I'm entitled to my opinion...we all are. Hey it might even start some dialogue and dialogue is never bad.

ORIGINAL RESPONSE:
Kids...Gotta love 'em. The drama of day-to-day life is fun, isn't it? I have a little queen at home too. She is *so* emotional - and it's her personality.

I have another who deals with day-to-day occurences much better - again - her personality.

I think it's pretty normal - and think about it - we - as adults - have bad days, we just (usually) deal with it better because we've learned coping skills. (Yet, there are adults who are more dramatic too - it's totally a personality thing.) Little drama queens haven't learned those skills quite yet.

I will tell you - there is hope. My little one is slowly maturing and the drama isn't quite so...striking anymore. It's more subtle - and usually only on "bad" days. (Every day used to be a big drama day for us - from about two and half to three and a half.)

AMMENDMENT PART TWO:
Believe it or not, when we turned our televisions off, the drama became less and less frequent. I feel like I always put stuff in my posts about NO TV! but I'm serious - it changed our lives in so many ways!

ORIGINAL POST CONTINUED:
Anyway - just bare with her and don't let her manipulate you. (That's what drama is usually designed to do - think about this - it's soooo true.) If it's not a big deal to you - if she doesn't get the good reaction from you - it won't be as "fun" or effective for her.

That's usually what we do now. When our four-year-old says something like, "I can't walk! My legs hurt!" We tell her she's fine, very casually. Then when she responds with, "Do you WANT MY LEGS TO FALL OFF?" We say something to the effect of, "Well, I'll help you carry your legs if they do happen to fall off." Then she walks, grumbling a little, but knowing that no one is going to carry her healthy four-year-old bod around...

Kids are funny. Write down these dramatics in a journal and reminisce when she's older.

God bless.

ADHD OR BIPOLAR oh too familiar what your child is doing take her to the doc. and have her tested

Your daughter is going thru all the same emotions that you are going thru because of pregnancy. Remember all the story of husbands who "go thru it too" with their wives, well this is the same thing. My son was 4 when I was pregnant with my second child. He would cry when someone asked him if he wanted a brother or he would start screaming at them. At first I was a little weirded out by all this, thinking God I must be the worse parent for having a son talk to strangers like this. But looking back, hind sights 20/20, he was displaying the same emotions I had too. He wasnt doing intentionally or to be a brat, he was just feeling, like us pregnant women. Trust me it will pass. Also she is probably a little anxious about the babies. After all its just been her and you both, now she has to share you and doesnt know how to express these fears. All you can do is comfort her when she is upset and reassure her when she needs it too. I dont know how you do doctors visit, and so on, but when I realized what was going on with my son, I made that pregnancy feel like the baby was Mommy's, Daddy's and His. He would tell people he is having a baby, which got me a lot of weird looks, but he mellowed out a lot. He is still sensative and I try to prepare him for any big chances now, so we dont go thru that time of stress on him. Good Luck and Congratulations!