Bipolar 3 yr old

Trixie: You know how the saying is terrible twos then trying threes. Well the trying threes should come with the disclaimer of trying not to lose your mind. My brother is like an emotional roller coaster most days & you can't see where the next drop is. It is truly amazing how fast the change can happen. As a matter of fact I am officially declaring the trying threes to be the bipolar threes. Let's actually break it down so you don't just think I am being mean.

Bipolar disorder — sometimes called manic-depressive disorder — causes mood swings that range from of the lows of depression to the highs of mania. When you become depressed, you may feel sad or hopeless and lose interest or pleasure in most activities. When your mood shifts in the other direction, you may feel euphoric and full of energy. Mood shifts may only occur only a few times a year, or as often as several times a day. In some cases, bipolar disorder causes symptoms of depression and mania at the same time.

Now that you have the definition let's break down a typical day with our 3 year old. Bobby wakes up happy most days & full of energy. He generally has no interest in eating until he has been up for an hour or so. During that time he runs around the house at hyper speed trying to get his hands on everything. When it comes time to eat he gets upset & yells & refuses to eat. Mommy will put on the TV & he calms down for a little bit. Then out of nowhere comes the crying about everything. "No I don't want this show." "No I don't want to eat." No I won't use the potty" "No I don't want this toy" I think you get the point. Then he will have phases where he will just whine over & over with nothing being able to calm him. All of a sudden the crying stops & you will hear squeals of joy as he begins to play with something the 2 seconds ago he was screaming he didn't want anymore. It just cycles over & over in most situations.

I think I have made my point. As you can imagine there are lot of headaches & stress in our household most days. I guess we will cross our fingers & wait for the phase to pass. Well that's my plan at least. I think mommy is braver & is trying to work with Bobby to fix this behavior. All I can say is good luck & come get me from my kennel when it is finally over.