Concerned about 3 year old.

[PDandM]

Our son is 3 1/2 years old and is behaving in many ways that concern us.  He is the second of 3 children.  He has always been "a handful", but we think that maybe there is something else to be worried about more than he is a boy (as so many people use to solve the problem).  When he does not get his way he throws a fit.  Screaming, louder than you can imagine and crying.  Once he gets mad, it is very hard to bring him back, many time you can't.  For example, today he went with my husband to get his hair cut and just lost it.  My husband attempted to dicipline him by taking away at toy on the way home.  My sons answer was to scream all the way home.  Then when he got home, I tried to talk with him and he just kept saying that he was a bad boy and cried himself to sleep.  Typically in these situations I would hold him and soothe him, but I think that has been a mistake.  At school yesterday he lost his temper when a boy played with the dinosaurs.  I can tell if he has a bad day by the look on the teacher's faces as I walk down the hall.  I have asked them if they think I have something to worry about and they say no.  Yet, they only have him for 7 hours a week.  He socializes well with other children...until they take something that he wants or has and then the same breakdown starts again.  He doesn't enjoy coloring or doing crafts, I have to force it on him.  He is very bright (per his pre-school teachers and Doctor), but he is not potty trained.  It is very hard to sit still unless there is a video on that he likes.  Every time I take him out I feel like I have to have an arsenal of treats and activities for him.  You just never know which boy is going to show up because he can be so very sweet and well behaved and then he can be awful.  It is so upsetting to us.  We try so hard to have we behaved children.  If there is a problem we just don't want it to slip between the cracks.  I want to help him express what is wrong without the constant screaming and thrashing.  He has decent verbal skills and has the ability to tell stories, so I think that he "should" be able to express his feelings in other ways.  If this sounds like something you have experienced, please let us know where to begin to help him.

[ray_ray_is_awesome]

I had the same problem I was at it all the time with my younger son, Honestly he just grew out of it. We tried taking things, shouting back, the bad boy chair, nothing worked he just screamed louder then u can imagine. What i ended up doing in the end is giving him no reaction at all and not even bothering to disipline him until he had calmed himself.

[treazzure007]

Sounds pretty normal.  The screaming sounds like a way of acting up though.  I think you nailed it when you said you believe he should be able to express his feelings in other ways.  That's what 3 year olds are learning to do.  Continue to help and watch him grow (ex. potty training) and continue to reward good behavior and the positive achievements accentuating him becoming such a "big boy", "smart boy", "wonderful boy" all along the way