3 year old won’t listen to me!

People lie about "the terrible 2s." 3 is when they really become defiant and push to find boundaries. He is testing you and seeing his place in the world, including what he can and can't get away with. Pick your battles. You're in for a long war but by 5 he'll likely be the angel you remember again

Ugh right there with you. My 3 yr old boy does NOT listen to me and argues with me and talks back. It’s incredibly frustrating and defeating

Full blown dealing with the same thing with my 3 yr old boy. It’s exhausting to my nervous system. And I’m pregnant with my 2nd that will be here next month.

Mine does stuff like this more if he’s had too much screen time, I try to limit it or he’s a damn troll 😂

My 3 year old daughter is the same. I repeat after her and she ending frustrated. Enjoy they are gonna grow and we will miss any stages.

Three is tough!! They’re learning a lot about themselves & boundaries. Something that works for me is telling him what I want him to do. Instead of saying “don’t jump in the puddle” I’ll say something like “walk around the puddle.” They have almost no impulse control so if they hear you say the words “jump in the puddle” their first thought is to do it, not what the rest of your sentence was. Giving choices whenever possible is helpful too! Plate color, bedtime story, song in the car, etc. And crouching / getting down on their level when giving instructions is a good way to get them to focus on what you’re saying Is there a specific behavior you’re having a hard time with? I taught 3 & 4yos so I have lots of tricks I can share lol

I’ve been going through the same thing too… and sometimes it’s impossible to tell him something to do cause he doesn’t listen, he wants to do what he wants to do not something that Mama tells him to do! I’m to the point where I’m like okay should I just let him do it and then try to talk to him after, but then I feel like he still won’t listen to me and just make fun of me or laugh because he thinks it’s funny… 🤦‍♀️ I’m sleep deprived as well, so I lose my cool fast since I have a 6 month old to take care and she’s teething really badly! Ugghhh sometimes I feel bad yelling at my 3 yr old but he doesn’t listen, so I stopped doing the “gentle parenting” method…

@Ayla I would love to know what tricks you used to teach 3 yos please 🙏

@Kimber yes totally agree with you! The terrible 2s is nothing compared to the 3s… he keeps testing my patience and sometimes I lose my cool, and cry because I feel bad yelling at him. I’m so sleep deprived also because I have a 6 month old who’s teething terribly and nothing works with her teething pain… help me lord 🙏

@Emilie Yesss it is totally frustrating and defeating! I try to use the “gentle parenting” method but he takes advantage all the time so I have stopped gentle parenting but then I cry because I feel bad for yelling at my 3yo. I don’t know anymore how to make him listen to me 🥺

@Krysten I totally feel ya! I have a 6 month old as well, sleep deprived and on top of that she’s teething so badly that nothing has been working on her except me carrying her all the time, when i put her in her walker she starts to cry so I have to hold her most of the time… an advice for you would be try to potty train your 3 yr old before you have your 2nd, it will help a lot! 🙏

I get it 😔 it’s so frustrating and exhausting. I also have another little one who doesn’t sleep through the night. So I’m exhausted and have even less patience for it. I’ve yelled too and the guilt is terrible. I feel like nothing works and I don’t have help or support. You can message if you ever want to chat

@Kate Check 🙏 he does his online school on his iPad only so not much screen time but still don’t listen lol 😂

@Nely @Nely Yes I’m enjoying all stages but when you’re sleep deprived, and have a 6 month old whose teething terribly and doesn’t want to take naps it’s exhausting to my nervous system and lose my cool pretty quickly. Hope you enjoy your little girl! 🙏

Can confirm, terrible 2 is nothing to 3 at all!! That being said, it can be so challenging in moments when you know they don’t fully understand why you are frustrated when they don’t listen. My three year old (girl) has a habit of hearing me and then staring at me to do it anyway. So what I try to consistently do is offer reinforcement where I explain to her in 3 year old, why I am telling her to do something in the hope that it will make it a bit easier for her to process and listen in the future. That being said.. 3 year olds are defiant and it has a 70% success rate 😂😂

We’re all going through the same thing with these 3 year olds and I’m just glad I’m not alone 😂😂😂😂 we got this mommas. We have to stand up to them and show them who’s the real boss 😂 but no really good luck because my child is driving me insane