3 year old constantly crying and whingeing

[blueberlin04]

Hi, is there anybody out there who can offer me some words of wisdom? I am at the end of my tether. My 3 year old ds constantly cries and whinges. It usually starts when I wake him from his afternoon nap, which he still needs after mornings at nursery. He will then scream for his dad when we walk to school to pick up ds1, he will also scream 'Ow, ow' for no particular reason - I just feel like everybody thinks I'm mistreating my child. Every day I drag my screaming child past the same shops and people. I just feel so exhausted by it and don't know how to tackle this. He's a lovely and affectionate child most of the time.

is there any way of not waking him from his nap, do you think he is perhaps over tired?? kids are bloody awful when they are tired. could you put him down for a nap a bit earlier?

Drop the nap and put him to bed earlier, perhaps try minimal activity in the pm or fresh air??

Don't wake him from his nap?
What time is his nap?

Yes, I've thought about that but he will just drop off, I simply cannot keep him awake. And I have to wake him because we need to pick up ds2. I might give it a go, though. Thanks for your advice.

Both of my dc needed lots of sleep and were horrible if they didn't get enough. It is diificult when u have an older child to collect from school. Just a couple of suggestions - Could you put him down for an earlier sleep? If not, maybe keeping him awake but calm for the afternoon and then try a 5:30/6:00pm bedtime. I had to do this with my dcs just to keep a calm happy house.

Can you put him in his pushchair to go to school? In that way it gives him a chance to come round.

Or let him nap in the pushchair and then just wheel him out to school. He'll be able to wake up in his own time then while out and about.

It might be the waking up warm and cosy and then straight outside walking that he's objecting to.

I had this whinging off my third daughter when i had to pick up others from school.I would sometimes bribe her by letting her go on scooter which could be a bit hairy next to a busy road.I'm sure it was all a lot easier when kids walked home from school on there own.goodluck.Feel for you.

Is he whinging 'at' you? If so I had this and I just kept repeating 'I will speak to you when you speak nicely'. Generally works.

I think the pushchair idea is good if it is relating to him being woke up.

Have you checked his feet? ds used to moan about walking because his feet would start to ache and hurt, he has flat feet. If you get your ds to stand on the floor with no shoes or socks on and look at his feet. You should see the arch underneith. If his feet are flat then this could be making walking painful.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have actually managed to keep him awake the past few days and he was fine. The real test will be next week when the old routine starts again. I'm sure we'll get there...