3 year old seems sad

[Islagray11]

My 3 year old boy has always been loud, extroverted, bouncing off the walls and always had a massive zest for life.

Recently there have been lots of changes in his life - lockdown, baby Sister, returning to nursery (3 days a week & starting school in afternoons.

He was very jealous when Sister arrived, lots of jealousy and desperately trying to get attention. I try my best to give more attention to him, but is Sister is very whiny, doesn't let me put her down for more than 5 mins & is generally quite a demanding baby. He initially enjoyed school and nursery, but now cries going to both. He has a taxi from nursery to school with the other children, and cries on the way there and asks the taxi driver to bring him home. He looks really down and depressed in all of the nursery pictures, and he is just generally quite down and sad unless having my undivided attention.

I feel so, so sorry for him, but I actually have no idea what to do to make him happy. I try to have 1 to 1 time with him when someone else can have the baby. We have little trips away with just him so he feels special. I try to spend time with him and the baby and we read together, play on floor together, go for walks etc, but it seems like nothing is making him happy and he seems a quite depressed.

Does anyone have any advice??

I was in a similar position a short while ago when my then-3yo (he’s just turned 4) was facing lockdown, his dad leaving, and health problems at the same time. He lost his spark and just wanted grumpy cuddles all day.

It might be worth trying to talk with him about how he feels. Just ask him what he thinks of everything, try to learn what his perspectives are, what he feels exactly when it’s time for nursery etc, try and figure out if there are any specific issues you can resolve - it’s often possible to open a dialogue about emotions with a 3 year old, although it is difficult. Doing arts and crafts or baking or puzzles etc at the same time would probably be beneficial, it was for me.

I also let him sleep in bed with me, which stopped him being so clingy during the day.

Exercise is very beneficial and most young kids aren’t getting as much as they need since lockdown. If you have a garden you could try a trampoline?

He is also old enough to start developing a hobby that is both stimulating but isn’t dependent on a parent always being there, but this varies on the individual child I don’t know how I can help with that. Animal Crossing worked for us, and I just need to help him with it every 10 minutes or so if he needs text read, which gives me time to work from home without him feeling neglected. This doesn’t work for TV, though, in my experience.

Idk if any of this is helpful. I hope your little one feels better soon