Hello,
We are really struggling with our 4 year old. He is very strong willed and always wants his own way and just doesn’t listen when we tell him no.
Examples: for breakfast if we have ran out of something he would like e.g. a babybel he will kick off wanting us to go to the shop right there and then even though there’s loads of other options for him. Again sometimes at breakfast and multiple times throughout the day he will want a snacks like quavers, animal biscuits etc and won’t take no for an answer, which results in a massive tantrum kicking and hitting, throwing things etc.
Another example, if we are out an about we have to do what he wants, for example, if we are the museum with his older sister and looking at an area that she wants to look at he kicks off and runs away to wherever he wants to go and doesn’t listen and away tantrums start, so we end up doing what he wants and his sister misses out.
Bedtime is a complete mess, refuses to go to bed even though he is absolutely exhausted, ends in fights with him trashing his room until he is ready to go to sleep, sometimes it’s just a switch in his head that turns and he realises oh actually I am tired and when he goes to bed he’s asleep within seconds. He won’t go to sleep without me in the room with him and comes through to our room every night.
We’re at our wits end and don’t know what to do. We need better techniques and managing the situations, as we are at the end of our tether and are getting angry and shouting which doesn’t help. Any advice on how to manage the examples above?