4 year old behavior

Hi All,

How often does your 4 year old have meltdowns/tantrums and how long do they typically last?

My son just turned 4...is it normal for him to have a 30 minute tantrum? This has only started recently. He had plenty of tantrums of course, but they've never lasted this long...lately they seem to go on forever and you cant even reason with him! It's maddening...

We are taking toys away...enforcing timeouts...but I guess I'm just concerned because I thought as he got older, the tantrums would become shorter and less frequent? They just seem to be getting worse and I'm wondering if this is a normal phase or no?

4 year old behavior

Ugh has been rough for us. Moody, tantrums, crying, mean, nasty, to say the least ?? My older had her moodiness and tantrums out by now. My middle now 4 yr old was good until now. Ugh. Sorry I can commiserate.

4 year old behavior

Hailey turned 4 in Feb, she has pretty regular tantrums. They dont necessarily last that long. But it depends on why it started usually. Ive got a few things (depending on the time its happening) that will usually get her to stop. I had to pick her up from school in October because she had diarrhea, she didnt want to leave school. She screamed the whole way home. At least a 20 minute walk. And several minutes before we even left school trying to UN-clench her fingers from the banister.

A girl in her class has really long tantrums. Her mom and I are the class mom and when we did the teachers door for Teacher Appreciation she had a total meltdown. She was making herself gag because she was crying so hard.

It doesnt happen to hailey often, idk how often her friend does it. But i think its pretty normal. They are older but 4 is much worse than 3 for us.

4 year old behavior

I don't think I'm going to survive 4. Complete meltdown because I did t want her to run around Aldi and made her go in the cart. Total meltdown when I took away iPad privileges because of the meltdown. She is so sensitive about EVERYTHING.

Re: 4 year old behavior

DS is turning 5 this week, but he still has tantrums on and off. I've found that positive reinforcement works better than taking away things. There were times that I was taking away TV for days at a time, and let's face it, it's a punishment for me as well. I used to tell him that if he can go 5 days without a tantrum, he can have a surprise (like a small toy), and slowly, it got better. But, yes, it's normal lol.

Re: 4 year old behavior

Normal

Mine are demons

Re: 4 year old behavior

4 year old behavior

My daughter did and still does on occasion. She just turned 5. I think as their emotions are evolving it's definitely normal for them to have meltdowns and struggle with their feelings. Dd is so emotional so it's definitely hard to get her over things when she gets upset but thankfully her meltdowns are not frequent. We still rely on Daniel Tiger at times to help lesrn about feelings and figure out how to deal with them.

Re: 4 year old behavior

My ds will be 4 in a couple of months and this describes him exactly. Moody, over dramatic, super sensitive. He has awful tantrums especially when he's tired. About the dumbest things. And he can't calm himself down so they last for a while! I too often wonder if it's normal ... from what I'm reading here it seems like it is which is reassuring.

Re: 4 year old behavior

Yes, this is typical 4 year old behavior.

Re: 4 year old behavior

Thank you all, I feel so much better knowing others have had similar experiences.