My 3 year old is always sick and cranky. He cries all the time and has tantrums.

by Sandra
(Australia)

Question: My 3 year old is always sick and cranky. He cries all the time and has tantrums. I'm not exagerating this, I can't go anywhere any more because he is so bad.

At creche he appears fine, but as soon as I pick him up it starts and on my days off its all day. I'm really struggling to cope. I have a 13 year old daughter from a previous marriage and although she had her tantrums it was nothing like this.

I see other kids and they are happy laughing and playing yet mine is not.

Answer: Is he getting enough sleep at night? Three year olds need about 11-13 hours of total sleep. Also, be sure not to reinforce his tantrums by giving in. If you give him what he wants or allow him to avoid things when he tantrums then they will continue everytime he doesn't get his way.

Check out my free ebook, Child Behavior Guide: What you need to know to learn some proactive strategies and also be sure to check out my pages with specific help for dealing with temper tantrums.

The most important thing to remember is that kids need and want boundaries. This helps them learn how to control their behavior. Boundaries have to be consistently enforced and consequences have to be consistently applied. It may get worse before it gets better, but after a few weeks of consistency things will get better. Good Luck!