Reply to I can’t stand my 4.5 year old

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "I can’t stand my 4.5 year old"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]My situation wasn't as bad, but my DD was very difficult right around the ages of 3 to 5. She is very headstrong and independent, and isn't a cuddler, but at that age she'd feel insecure and would try to get attention by pushing my buttons. I finally realized that even if she seemed not to like kisses and cuddles, she still craved them.

Even now, at 10, when she gets anxious/tired/unhappy, she tends to lash out, pick fights, whine. She throws herself at us and sometimes scratches or kicks. Not entirely on purpose, but it's like she is flailing. It's so irritating! But she is not trying to piss us off, she is externalizing her feelings.

What helped: Patience. More genuine physical contact. Finding things to do together that we enjoyed. Just her growing up. But, mostly, realizing that her behaviors weren't about me, weren't out of spite, but her struggling to figure out how to express herself. Also, I think her preschool made her very anxious (AppleTree isn't for everyone), so maybe consider whether your DD's preschool could be the source? Does she do better or worse on weekends? And also sibling jealousy. My DD had a hard time when her younger brother was born, for sure... [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics