3-Year Old "Normal" Behaviors?

So normal! I have a 3 year old daughter that has been very strong willed from day one. She started hitting, kicking, and biting like crazy at the end of the summer. The best thing we have found is to praise, praise, praise the good behavior. When the bad things happen stay consistant with what you are doing. Do not let him get the best of you. When he hasn't hit, kicked, etc at home for an hour...30 minutes...whisper in his ear like you have this huge secret and go, "I noticed you haven't hit. GREAT JOB!!! You are such a grown up boy!" Works for my daughter.

My son is going through the exact same thing right now. It was like the instant he turned three, his behaviors changed completely. I think it is important to remember that children are just like us. They are simply little people with much less experience. Don't lose your cool! I spent 18 years with a mother that did daycare and have seen many children grow up into young adults. They go through rough spots and with your support and understanding they will overcome this. Also try to realize how intelligent your little one is. It's amazing what a little reasoning can do for your 3 year old... try it, you'll be surprized when he understands how you are feeling. Hang in there mom!

Yup, that is totally normal for many toddlers. Stay consistent with time-outs and not tolerating bad behavior. It's hard, but he'll learn. Also, be sure to point out and praise GOOD behavior. He needs to feel good about doing the right thing.
I wish I could help more, but I'm still trying to figure my own kids out and every kid is different. =)
Good luck!

My son will go through spells like you are discribing, they started around three also. One day he slapped his daycare teacher and made her cry. That night I told him he would not be allowed to watch TV, as the eveing wore on he would ask me every so often if he could watch TV and I would remind him that he was not allowed to watch TV due to he had hit his teacher. The next day at school he gave her a hug and said he was sorry and from that point on he began behaving much better. Then about a year latter, just this fall, he started acting out again. This time I took all of his power rangers toys and clothes away and told him he would not be allowed to play with them until he could behave himself. He got over his funk within 24 hours and has been behaving very well at school ever since. So find your 3 year-old's favorite thing and take it away until he begins to behave. If things don't improve then talk to your dr. but chances are this is normal three year old testing. I would also recomend the book our Dr. told me about, "Magic 1-2-3". I've been using it with my 4 year old and it is a good tool.

As for people who give you the disapproving looks, ignore them!

Good luck!

My son was the same way, everyone talked about terrible twos well I think 3 was worse than 2. I was the Mom also that would get looked at like I had the naughtiest boy ever. However, I would remove him from the situation and just have him sit and cool down (like a timeout). That was the best that I could do. There is not good way to sit down and reason with an active 3 yr old little boy. All I can say is it will get better with time but just have lots of PATIENCE and CONSISTENCY. Good Luck :)

My son is 3 1/2 and is behaving the very same way right now! You are not alone. My daughter who will soon be 6 went through the very same "phase".

We do timeouts but it's extremely frustrating when you know they normally do not act that way. They are just testing the waters to see what they can get by with.

Good luck! :-)

B.,

As everyone else has said, this is VERY NORMAL behavior. (I have 4 sons and the youngest isn't quite to this stage yet, but he's getting there.) Your son is just testing the boundaries. Continue to be firm and consistent. He needs to know what will happen if he acts a certain way. It is also part of feeling secure, knowing what the consequences of his actions will bring. This is part of natural development, even though not every child acts in exactly the same way. Stand firm now, and you won't have all the problems later when he is a teenager.