Four Year Old Sensitive Personality

It may not make sense to her (it doesn't to me) to require a child to say she's sorry. If she's not sorry, then we're teaching her to lie. If she is sorry, she will need to see apologies being practiced by the adults in her life in order to learn the beautiful art of the heartfelt apology.

The crying could actually mean quite a few different things, so you might have to consider the bigger picture to figure it out. It could well be that your daughter feels contrite. Or it could be true that she's simply embarrassed or angry that she got caught. If it happens a lot, she could feel that she lets you down all the time, and feels insecure about your love.

My grandson is 4, and with a little gentle coaxing, is able to tell us quite a bit about what he's feeling when he gets upset. We do have to give him the opportunity, though.

Good luck. I'm glad you're asking. I hope you find a gentle solution and don't let this escalate into a more serious problem.

One of my boys used to react similarly, except he used to fly into a rage every time he was corrected.
We always thought it was because he was upset/embarrased that he had done something wrong, and he had trouble dealing with his emotions.
Your daughter probably has the same problem...
Try pointing out to her ( in every day life) all the mistakes that you and daddy make, and how you deal with them, and maybe she will catch on.

I would ease up on forcing her to apologize. She will learn the proper behavior by copying you. So, let her see you apologizing when you make a mistake (either to her, your husband, etc.). She eventually will pick up on this and start doing it on her own. It is the same as with forcing her to say think you. She will learn by copying you. You want her to say thank you or to apologize because she makes the choice (in her heart) not because it is an automatic response and if she doesn't she will get into even more trouble. She probably already feels badly enough for whatever "mistake" she made, and getting further upset with her if she doesn't apologize is too much for her to handle at the moment. My 5 year old son is very emotionally sensitive also. I have to be very careful about even raising my voice with him because he will get very upset. If I just back off and let him come to his own realizations, he will apologize as necessary. It doesn't happen 100% of the time, but I remind myself that he still is learning, so he is not going to be perfect each time.

Check out the book "raising your Emotionally Intelligent Child." Love that book!

Tell her mommy is not upset .Let her know she can make misstakes its ok . I is natural to cry but stay very firm on her to apologizing . She is feeling guilt and that is great thing because she understands she has done something that is not right .. Just be confident as a mom and she will follow it sounds like you are doing a GREAT JOB!!! If you feel fusterated just count to 10 to your self it really does work and go at it again Just remember you was a child once . DONT EVER LET HER KNOW SHE IS UPSETTING YOU ! That is a later in life subject once they know they will play on that !! God Bless V.

E.,
With my older son asking for an apology worked, but with my younger......exactly what the mom said before me. When he got older he verbalized it, "i don't think I did anything wrong so if I apologize I will be telling a lie." Tricky situation, but you may be better off just explaining why you are upset without demanding the apology. Then allow her to explain to you why she is upset. You will be making great headway for open communication which will help her profoundly in her life.
Hang in there. Motherhood is hard.