Normal 3 year old behavior?

[Anonymous]

Does this sound like normal 3 year old behavior or a delay of some sort ... hitting kids when having difficulty sharing, not meeting 2 3-year-old gross motor milestones (walking up stairs one and a time and throwing a ball overhand), short tantrums that blow over quickly and usually coincide with hunger/tiredness, needs promoting to go to potty sometimes but is fully trained/no accidents, sometimes does not follow instructions, does not make a lot of eye contact if stressed but fine otherwise, language normal, engaging, affectionate. Does not really play interactively with same-age kids yet, but does with adults and older kids who can lead him into it.

My gut is that this is behavioral (the hitting/tantrums) that we have to address with more consistent discipline and social skills work.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, make that needs prompting to go potty, not promoting. He trained easily a few weeks ago and just needs help prompting/taking him to sit when he does the "potty dance."

[Anonymous]

Normal

[Anonymous]

Sounds normal. But could also be some minor ADHD spectrum kind of stuff - such that if your kid gets diagnosed with ADHD when he's, say, 7, you might look back in hindsight and see these as early red flags. My suspicion is that if you're asked on this forum, your gut tells you something is a little off with him. Which is when things that on paper sound normal are actually a little off from his peers. My advice is that, since these things don't sound like giant red flags and it doesn't sound like his day to day living is at all impacted, just ride it out. Nothing to worry about unless a teacher flags something down the road.

[Anonymous]

Sounds pretty normal to me OP.

I think a lot of these behaviors are typical developmental behaviors, but they can, in retrospect, seem like early indicators for kids who end up with some sort of diagnosis later. But I wouldn't focus on that right now.

Guess I'm basically agreeing with 10:52.

[Anonymous]

A young 3 or late 3? I would mostly be concerned about gross motor and playing (if child is not in a daycare/preschool situation I'd be less concerned since it could just be lack of exposure)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A young 3 or late 3? I would mostly be concerned about gross motor and playing (if child is not in a daycare/preschool situation I'd be less concerned since it could just be lack of exposure)

This.

OP, have you discussed this with your pediatrician?

[Anonymous]

Mostly normal, although depending on exactly how old the kid is, I'd be most concerned about the gross motor stuff and the hitting. All the other stuff sounds like every three-year-old I know.

[Anonymous]

GMA had a story just a few days ago about how a parent's gut instinct that something is off is often one of the best indicators of ADHD. Not diagnosing your child over the internet or anything, but as a mother who was second guessed when my oldest was not meeting typical mild stones and told "wait and see", I believe you should be discussing your concerns with professionals who have the expertise to run tests and begin evaluating your child.

Besides being a mother of a SN child, I have experience as a Pre School teacher with 3 year olds. Young children who have problems with verbally communicating can react physically out of frustration and inability to get what they are trying to communicate across. As communication skills become more fluent and they learn better coping skills, the physical outbursts will normally subside. Identifying what is going on with the whole child is key in order to developing a plan to address behavior and learning issues. Having an adult skilled with keeping calm and diffusing situations is also key to model appropriate behavior for the child. Set the tone, getting on the child's level, repeating what you think the child is trying to tell you to show their message has meaning and you understand what the child is feeling, 5 positive rewards for every negative punishment, etc. are best teaching practices that can be used. If a child does not have the vocabulary, picture cards, pointing, sign language, etc. are ways to work around words and make communicating easier for the child.

Getting a comprehensive evaluation may be needed. You can see what your health insurance will cover. You could also go to your local public school's Child Find office and they will evaluate preschool children for free to see if they qualify for Early Intervention Special Education Services.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the input. He is a young three. We have not have cause for concern previously; this comes from his new preschool teacher, who we now have reason to believe has a history of difficulty dealing with challenging (but behaviorally normal) behavior in her classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A young 3 or late 3? I would mostly be concerned about gross motor and playing (if child is not in a daycare/preschool situation I'd be less concerned since it could just be lack of exposure)

This.

OP, have you discussed this with your pediatrician?

He is a young three. He JUST saw his pediatrician for this 3-year old visit a few weeks ago and she checked out his motor skills. He has always hit his milestones, but on the later end (eg crawled at 9 months, walked at 15 months, just started to walk up stairs one at a time.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GMA had a story just a few days ago about how a parent's gut instinct that something is off is often one of the best indicators of ADHD. Not diagnosing your child over the internet or anything, but as a mother who was second guessed when my oldest was not meeting typical mild stones and told "wait and see", I believe you should be discussing your concerns with professionals who have the expertise to run tests and begin evaluating your child.

Besides being a mother of a SN child, I have experience as a Pre School teacher with 3 year olds. Young children who have problems with verbally communicating can react physically out of frustration and inability to get what they are trying to communicate across. As communication skills become more fluent and they learn better coping skills, the physical outbursts will normally subside. Identifying what is going on with the whole child is key in order to developing a plan to address behavior and learning issues. Having an adult skilled with keeping calm and diffusing situations is also key to model appropriate behavior for the child. Set the tone, getting on the child's level, repeating what you think the child is trying to tell you to show their message has meaning and you understand what the child is feeling, 5 positive rewards for every negative punishment, etc. are best teaching practices that can be used. If a child does not have the vocabulary, picture cards, pointing, sign language, etc. are ways to work around words and make communicating easier for the child.

Getting a comprehensive evaluation may be needed. You can see what your health insurance will cover. You could also go to your local public school's Child Find office and they will evaluate preschool children for free to see if they qualify for Early Intervention Special Education Services.

He actually has no verbal issues - his language has always been quite good. The hitting is problematic for sure, but I think it has more to do with stress/learning to share/transition to a brand new classroom than not knowing how to express himself. He did not hit like this in his old daycare (which he just left 2 weeks ago).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A young 3 or late 3? I would mostly be concerned about gross motor and playing (if child is not in a daycare/preschool situation I'd be less concerned since it could just be lack of exposure)

This.

OP, have you discussed this with your pediatrician?

He is a young three. He JUST saw his pediatrician for this 3-year old visit a few weeks ago and she checked out his motor skills. He has always hit his milestones, but on the later end (eg crawled at 9 months, walked at 15 months, just started to walk up stairs one at a time.)

I should clarify about the milestones! After I posted this I decided to see if he could walk up the stairs one at a time or throw a ball overhead (two of the milestones on the ASQ 36 months, for 35-39 months.) After I made him walk up the stairs one at a time once or twice at home, he started doing it on his own, and I noticed that he throws overhead now as well.