My DS is really a lovely, sweet and well-behaved boy in lots of ways, and hardly ever intentionally naughty. But at 5 he has still not stopped bursting into tears and wailing and being inconsolable over really minor things - like (2 examples from yesterday) he's dropped some of his crisps and I don't get him a new packet (he still had half the pack to eat), or I want him to sit on his own seat on the bus and not sit on me because he can't stop kicking and fidgeting. Cue massive meltdown and tears.
He's had a lot of upheaval in the past year - house move, new baby and he's about to leave nursery and start school, which he's worried about - so I do want to cut him some slack and I understand he needs attention (which we do try hard to give him). But he's always been like this and now the crying is getting worse and I wish I had a solution to it. Consequences like not doing what we were going to do because he's kicking off don't work - he just cries more (obviously really) and says he can't stop.
I try to be patient but I'm dealing with a 4-month-old too and it can be so exhausting - and sometimes I have snapped at him which of course means more crying - aarrgh. I've never given in to tantrums and I've been very careful to teach him that he doesn't get rewards by having a meltdown, so it's frustrating that he still hasn't learned. It's like he genuinely just can't help it.
As well as wanting to help him get on a more even keel, I'm worried he's going to get labelled or bullied at school if he's like this. Would love to hear from anyone who's dealt with this kind of thing.