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Behaviour/development

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Almost 4 yo DS REALLY acting up... Anyone else?

6 replies

Tamashii · 14/03/2012 15:23

DS1 will be 4 soon and he has been going through a lot of changes emotionally/physically/physiologically and I know this can cause problems. The only thing is I am not sure I am dealing with it well and whether the behaviour he is displaying is "normal".

The main issues at the moment are that he gets very, very upset really easily and it seems like it's the end of the world. He cries and whines a lot. He likes to do the "I didn't want this yoghurt!!!" when he explicitly asked for it or he will say no to something then say "Yes! Yes.... I DO want that!!!!" especially when it is something he really does want. Frustrating. He says things like "Why did you hit me Mummy?" out of the blue and usually in front of people when of course I did no such thing. Or he will say I smacked him then when he is told off for making things up he will laugh and say "It's just pretend Mummy....".

There's lots of other things like generally being disobedient, pushing boundaries etc but there are dangerous things too like his favourite thing this week is to run out of the house when we are getting ready to go out and shutting me in the house while I am trying to get the DS2 out of the door in the pram. Today on the way through the secure entry system at nursery he turned and ran back out as the automatic doors were closing so he got shut outside with me inside and I had to press the door release button to get them to open again. He was really upset, screaming when he ran back in. I asked him what he thought was going to happen when he ran out as the doors were closing and he did say "I would be shut outside and you would be inside but I didn't like that Mummy".

I'm just struggling since he seems to be his "old self" some days then totally challenging the next. It usually passes but these days as he's reaching 4 it's becoming inreasingly difficult and none of the old reward chart/time outs etc seem to be effective now...

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SparkyMcSparrow · 14/03/2012 15:29

Yep. He is now four and slightly better.

Never really dangerous stuff though, but very very annoying, whiney etc. He also says things like "Mummy don't hit me" in public Confused I have never and will never but sometimes I bloody well want to Grin

Oh the joys of parenthood. I hope someone comes along and gives you some advice, just thought I would let you know you are not alone!

Tamashii · 14/03/2012 15:38

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh you made me :D
Thank you!

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SparkyMcSparrow · 14/03/2012 15:42

I have just remembered a incident similar to your ds's.

I took some rubbish out and the little shit monster shut the front door. Fine, but we have one of those doors you can't open from the outside without a key, guess what, I didn't have my keys. He then starts singing out the letterbox "You can't get in mummy, I shut the do-or" Angry

20 fucking minutes it took me Angry. I got rather alot of Hmm looks but no offers for help!

Good luck Tama

CheerfulYank · 14/03/2012 15:53

Four is hard. DS was pretty much an angel until a few months before his fourth birthday. He will be five in July and hasn't quite settled down yet. Hmm

Just a lot of defiance, whining, baby talk...sigh. I don't have any advice other than to be as loving and consistent as possible, and as firm as necessary. DS seems to do better when he gets lots of fresh air.

I think it's just a rough age; you're not alone! :)

Syd35 · 14/03/2012 15:54

Been through similar issues with my DS (4.5). A friend of mine told me something interesting about a hormone surge which boys get at various ages and there could be something in it - hopefully this link will work for you I found it interesting reading -

www.preschooldirectory.co.uk/adviceboys.html

Good luck I'm sure it's just a passing phase :)

Tamashii · 14/03/2012 23:16

Thank you so much for all the replies. I see someone else has asked about 4 yo behaviour in the same vein as my question so it must be common! Bookwarking the preschool directory page! Thanks

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