I thought terrible twos were meant to be the hardest but can three be just as difficult if not worse?
My son turned three recently and we're going through some difficult behaviour. Very stubborn, strong willed, oppositional, etc. Just for a bit of background, he has a 3 month old baby sister, we moved house a month ago and he's started pre school in the last month too! So he's had a lot going on. Plus, like so many other children, he didn't mix at all during the pandemic, especially as I was being careful due to the pregnancy too.
We experience tantrums with him most days (fairly short lived ones) but my dh and I are consistent in our approach to dealing with them. We stand our ground and don't give in to ds' demands. For instance, I took my ds to a playgroup we hadn't been too for ages yesterday. He wanted to play on a car another child was in. I said no and explained why. He laid down on his stomach and had a tantrum. I just stood beside him and waited until he was done, wanting the ground to open up from onlooking parents.
He's a ball of energy and sometimes things he's doing in play, isn't quite playgroup or pre school acceptable. His pre school teacher had to speak to me last week as my ds nearly caused a flood in the sink apparently. The problem is, we've let him play in the sink at home with a few toys whilst supervised which is fine. However my ds won't understand that it's not acceptable to do it elsewhere. Same with pushing other children along on bikes and cars when they haven't requested it consequently upsetting them. The reason he does it though is because he has a few older friends who play this with him and again, in another setting, it's OK.
My son is also tall for his age. He looks like a four year old, maybe even five! So I think other parents look at him and expect him to be behaving differently. I always feel like I have to explain he's only the age he is. He's still in nappies!
Any experiences? Stories? Support? Please. Thank you.