OMG 3 year olds!!!

[flipflopson5thavenue]

I need to rant. I know it's a phase BUT

the constant demanding
the whining
the grumbling
the complaining
the grumpiness
the rudeness
the shoutiness

THE WHINING!!!!!! OMG the whining.

When does it all stop :(

[vvviola]

Um... my 4.5yo is still at it.

8 yo DD1 still has her moments too (although they are thankfully getting rarer).

I suspect it all just tails off for a while before kicking back in for the teenage years!

(Can you tell yesterday was a whiny, shouty, weepy sort of day....)

[scandichick]

But you get to sleep at night, do you? Please tell me you do... desperately looking for an upside, as I have a 2 year old and a baby

[DaffyDuck88]

We too have a demanding, whining, shouty 3 year old....I had to check the post twice to make sure I hadn't written it in my sleep!

She's adorable most of the time and it's like a switch has been flicked... Verucca Salt once minute and then Pollyanna the next.

[flipflopson5thavenue]

scandichick - no - because my 15mo is still up 3/4 times a night...

But the 3.6 yo sleeps fine thankfully. All that whining is exhausting...

[KittyandTeal]

Oh god the shouting and the rudeness! My dd is a delight but she goes through phases where she is actually a hideous teenager squashed into a cute girls body.

Oh and the negotiating and arguing. She's always got a reason that I have to say yes rather than no!

[flipflopson5thavenue]

his new thing is "Mummy! You're naughty!!" if I tell him something he doesn't like.

Even if it's something like "oh look it's a pigeon"

"no it's not!" yes, it is. "No! Mummy, you're naughty!!"

I don't think I've ever told him he's naughty, so who knows where he's got that from...

[vvviola]

But you get to sleep at night, do you? Please tell me you do...

Um... Sure not really, but then DD2 has always been the incredible non sleeping child. It's a bit easier now that I just crawl into the bed beside her for a while

[neversleepagain]

I have 3 and a half year old twins and I feel like tearing my hair out most days. If one isnt whinging, crying, shouting the other one is. Sometimes they do it together to drive me extra crazy!

[IgnoreMeEveryOtherReindeerDoes]

well if someone tells you it changes when they are 4 is all lies!!! These parents are leading you into false sense of security!

The only hope is to learn how to have selective hearing but the downside is you have to get your child who will be a master of this skill to teach you this!

[PurpleTraitor]

My 3yo does all this all day

And at two hourly intervals through the night

Every night

I have an older one too so I know it isn't just me!

[celeste83]

3 year olds are arseholes

[Millionprammiles]

flipflop - at 'Mummy you're naughty' - we get that a lot. Along with 'don't talk to me, I never ever want to talk to you ever again'.

Its the inconsistency I can't cope with though - 'I don't like you' followed by 'I love you so so much' 3 mins later.

[flipflopson5thavenue]

Millionprammiles: I also get "don't say that or I'll put you in the dishwasher!"

[Stars66]

Sounds like my dd. She only wants me to do anything for her and not her dad. It drives him bananas. I try to explain that she's a child but he won't listen. I'm not sure who is more stubborn!!

[Kiwiinkits]

I've had success reaching my DDs not to whine when they were that age by saying "why are you using a whiiiiiney voice?" In an exaggerated whine tone. Then "ask me in a normal voice" using a mid-range normal tone. That is, demonstrating to them the difference between whiiiine and normal, and telling them what you expect of them.
Might help?

[Kiwiinkits]

3 year olds are funny though. My youngest DD went through a phase of saying "I don't like you mummy. I'm going to cut you up!!" Sinister

[BertieBotts]

I'll put you in the dishwasher I love their 3yo threats. So innocent.

[BertieBotts]

I can't remember what DS' was now. He had a great one.

[FlyingGoose]

neversleepagain three and half year old twins here too. Driving me mad at the moment. The fighting, the whining, the 'no's, the not listening. Thankfully I have wine tonight or I might just cry.

[FlyingGoose]

And oh my god... The sheer amount of noise!!

[drspouse]

Kiwi we do something similar to that. When DC1 was about 2 we started saying "say 'Milk please!'" (in frightfully cheerful non-whiney tones). We moved on to saying "Can you ask me in a nice way?" though to start with we just got "nice way" back.

Now we get spontaneous non-whining some of the time and after a reminder "don't forget to ask nicely!" we get non-whining most of the time (just turned 4).

If we weren't going to give whatever it was anyway, we just ignore.

[tattyteddy]

My 4.11 DD is still at it! But she does sleep well, her saving grace!

[Doraemon]

'I want a ham sandwich'
'Sorry, I haven't got any ham'
'Yes you have'
'No, I haven't, you ate it all.'
'Yes you have!
'No I haven't'
'YES YOU HAVE MUMMY!!!!!!'
and repeat ad nauseum.
I work with 3-5 year olds all day and I swear, other people's children never whinge as much as a your own. I see DD in nursery in the room next to me and she is behaving like an angel. Come four o'clock in the afternoon when I get her back she is a wailing banshee with a ham addiction.
My 8 year old is nice though.

[scandichick]

You're really scaring me here - at least I've got some time to work on the selective hearing... Repeating back and ignoring whiny demands sounds like good advice.