Hi everyone, my name is Rain. Boy am I glad I found this board. I am in need of some serious help and or advice.

Since Dec 23rd, 06, I have been babysitting a 3 yr old and his sister, who is now 4 months old. The baby is no problem at all. The 3 yr old is the problem. He does not listen, at all. He will ask me something over and over, again & again, within a matter of minutes.
Example: can I watch a movie? 10 secs later, he's asking again, and it goes on * on. I have to repeatedly tell him not to do something, more then 5 times, and on the 6th time, he will do it spitefully, while looking me dead in the eye. From what mom has told me, I get the feeling he's spoiled at home * allowed to do what he wants, when he wants, to an extent I mean. I don't think mom/dad spank. I think it's more so a short smack on his hand, & he's told to stop it. I'm not there at their house, so I wouldn't know. The other day ( my dog had puppies) he asked to see the puppies, I said ok, but here is the deal, you can sit and look at them, but no touching. and no picking up. I told him 3 times before we got to the puppies, and 1 more time as we both sat down in front of the puppies, well by the time I had * no picking up* out of my mouth, he picked one up!!!!

Is his attention span at 3 that short? I feel, this is just my opinion.... at the age of 3, he should know NO dont do that, & YES, you can do that. But he doesn't.He can't sit long enough to watch a movie full length. My husband feels so bad for me because he knows my days with this child are really rough. I feel so bad posting here because I feel as though I am talking about mom/dad behind their backs. Mom has mentioned the hard time she had with her son when he first born, sleeping, being peaceful, she just had an all around hard time with him, in every sense. I dont know how much longer I can continue watching this child. I am so stressed by 5pm, it's unreal. Is there a chance he could be add or adhd? Mom has told me if he gives me problems. to make him sit on the couch or something. I don't feel right doing that as he is not my child. May be something I need to get over. I dont want to tell mom the child is giving me problems, for fear she would think I am picking on him, which I am not. I guess I don't have the heart to tell her, mom is so sweet. And she treats me really good. Mom has mentioned that her dad noticed the child does not listen, and her reply to dad was, that he is still a baby, he just turned 3 ( in december). Again, I think at this age, a 3 yr old should know right from wrong, or at least when you say no, it means no. This child is very defiant, I mean very. Could he have ODD? Is there something I can do in the mean time to make his stay at my home more easy?

Thank you very much.

Rain117,

I'm pretty new to all this but you might find you will get more response if you post your question under the parents of children with ADD/ADHD.  They might have some answers as to how they delt with their young children.  Did you suggest to the parents that ADD/ADHD might be something they want to look into?  You might try using the 1-2-3 Magic strategy and I saw something in another post about another discipline strategy.  Look around cuz there is a lot of good helpful info on these msg boards

Good Luck!

well have you tried a rewards system tell him you will give him a treat if he dose what you tell him  try it it worked with me when i was 6 years contact me if it works at warbuff_6@yahoo.com thats underscore 6

thank you