3 year old terror

[stressssed]

I have a 3 yr old boy who most of the time is an angel, other times he is a little monster. He screams, bites, scratches his sister, hits things etc and I do not know what to do. My husband works away I dont really have a support network thingy and its the school holidays, Im stressed so much that Im seeing a cardiologist. Im at tyhe end of my tether I know its probably all "normal" behaviour but Im not coping very well so any ideas and tips would be very much appreciated. :)

If he isnt doing it a lot of the time are there any particular times or triggers that are more likely than others to start his behavior. Food, tired, sharing, attention. or all of these are usually enough to cause havoc in our house. is his sister younger or older, could he be thinking she is getting more attention. If you can identify the triggers then sometimes you can prevent them before they happen. Where possible totally ignore the bad stuff and praise all the good stuff, It is normal behaviour but that doesnt make it right and it is increadibly strassful. I would say that the last 13months for me was the hardest. My DD is 4 now and is just coming out of it, she sounds like your son.
Sorry if im a bit rambly it is such a huge topic and there are so many ways to deal with it but you are not alone and im sure there are many other MNers who will offer advice etc

I'm going through the same with my 3yr4mo son, there can be any number of triggers, all of them mentioned by Stopinatwo. I try to get out of the house, somewhere we can walk/run but not the park as other children make him worse if he's in a certain frame of mind. Not all children go through this but I do think some children find this age difficult in learning social behaviour, boundaries, getting their own way. I'm beginning to make some progress by ignoring the bad and really praising him like mad when he is behaving well. Also his sister (nearly 7) tends to wind him up into a frenzy. Little girls can be so cunning; she knows he ends up getting into trouble!! Good luck.

Thanks heaps for all your advice. His sister is older (nearly 8) and yes she does tend to wind him up as does he to her. Food is definately a factor Ive cut out anything red and have gone to preservative free bread. Ive started giving both the kids a massage at night before bed and that has helped abit. Its just so hard I think cause im so tired and just dont have the patience, but we'll get there.

Thanks again :)