Is 3 3/4 difficult??

[kfillmore]

Lately my sweet DD has been very difficult. 

some new things-

Retaliating if I hurt her by accident ( hitting me if I bump her or her her by mistake)

whining 

sad crabby, probably daily (where she just is whine-y, clingy, gets upset easily etc)

more demanding and relentless

body complaints-clothes bother her, she has body pain, her tummy hurts

she wakes several times at night 

not listening, more that usual

Is this just a new stage of growth? Stress? ME?? I feel intuitively like this is a point in time/growth that is significant-that this time and how I behave will affect her whole life. This is so hard because I am tired because neither of us sleep well and I feel unprepared to handle these new issues.

[woodchick]

You have just described my DD2 who will be four in March.   Our first was ornery from 2-5yo, but DD2 has been so sweet that it hit me like a ton of bricks when she started tantruming over the summer.

I have chalked it up to it being a busy time of growth- she has grown physically (with body pains associated with that, I assume), she's jumped intellectually, with vocabulary, game skills and social skills.  She is also learning new things physically, like ice skating and scootering.  

We try very hard to just give her extra love (or space) when she needs it.  Whenever I can I try to anticipate something that might set her off, but that's not always possible.   We've found that giving her lots of new words and descriptions for her feeling sometimes helps. Angry or sad might have worked at 3, but at 3.5 we need to add disappointed or frustrated or overwhelmed.  I think having more descriptors helps us communicate more easily.

Chin up, Mama! It is sure to pass, and most likely isn't your fault!  

[fruitfulmomma]

I have always thought 3-4ish was much harder than 2. I though maybe it was just my kids but we had a thread some time ago and a lot of mothers agreed. I just had one turn 4 last week and the last few months have been full-on sass.

[34me]

I have always thought 3-4 is one of the hardest ages. There are so many "big kid" things that they can do and are full on praised for, and the. On the other hand so many things they "want" to do that they are not yet able to do like crossing busy streets alone.