3 year old is acting depressed?

My 3 year old has 'meltdowns' and says she doesn't love us ( the parents, brother, granny, etc ) and doesn't want to be with us etc etc.

Today, she refused to come out of the car and claimed she wanted to be away from everyone forever. Says she doesn't want to be part of this family. She wants to play by herself all the time.

What really got me was when she said she wanted to live by herself. This is a THREE year old! I can't imagine that she's picking this up from television. Granny keeps her and her brother 5 days a week and I know she's not a bad influence.

Now, after an hour or two of dealing with that, she's just fine....Is this normal? Should we, the parents, be concerned? Should we force her to be sociable when she gets this way? Should we just leave her alone and let her cry it all out?

I don't want to do anything to push my little girl away but I don't want to NOT do anything and let her think she can act like this.

Any suggestions are welcome :D

Answers:
This seems to be her only way to get her emotions out. Kids this young have a hard time expressing themselves. Make sure you are patient, and be understanding. Make sure she knows that you care about her. And try to give her words that explain how she feels, let her talk with you. But don't push her to do anything she doesn't want to do....this might make it worse. Good luck, this can be a hard age

Have you called your pediatrician?

More Questions & Answers...

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition.

3 year old is acting depressed?

Pregnancy & Parenting