I am also a stay at home mom of 3 boys. Ages 21/2,4and 8. My 2 youngest boys are 18 months apart, so I know what you are going through.I would suggest a couple of things that may help, Do you have anyone that could watch the baby for a few hours sometimes so that you could have the 1on1 with the 3 year old. It helped with my now 4 year old to have that special alone time with me or my husband. Another thing that helped and still helps with me is that I ask my 4 year old to help out alot with the 21/2-- it gives them that "big boy" feeling and lets them know that they are actually helping out with the little one. And if you are still having the issues with the temper, my 4 year old is very emotional and gets very angry at times. What usually works for me is if I put him in time-out until he's ready to quiet down and talk or send him to his room until he's ready to be nice. And sometimes it is hard because they don't always sit there the first couple of times. But you just keep sitting him in the spot that you want them in and just walk away. As hard as it may seem,try your best to ignore the noise and act like it does not bother you because sometimes, that is all that they are really trying to do. Believe me, it takes some time. Another thing that I have to do when my 4 year old gets really upset is to have him take deep breaths to calm him down. It is just so funny how all of your kids can be totally different. My other 2 are not like him.I say he has "middle child syndrome" maybe it's because I was also a middle child!
