The Toddler from H-E- Double Hockey Sticks

My son...

*sigh*

He has been going through a loooooooooong phase- we are talking like 8 months or so long- where he cries over EVERYTHING.  You tell him no, he cries.  You tell him it's dinner time, he cries.   You ask him to put his shoes on, he cries.  Well, I've gotten to the point where the crying doesn't bother me.  First I tried putting him in time out because we all knew it was crocodile tears.  Then I tried sending him to his room until he was done crying.  I didn't get mad, I would calmly tell him to go into his room and he could come out when he was done crying.  So, of course this resulted in him coming out two seconds later because he had turned off the waterworks just as easily as he turned them on.

Figuring that it is a phase, I have just kind of accepted it and try to ignore it because I know that he is trying to get attention.

Well, instead of letting that phase die out, he has decided to escalate it- to ear piercing screams.  He intertwines these screams with his usual crying, but throws some even louder sobs in.  And of course, it's still over the same little things.  He smacks his sister in the face, he gets caught, he cries (and screams).  He gets caught jumping on the couch... you get the picture.  So, to his room he goes where he has now decided to start kicking the walls and throwing things during his tantrums.  As much as I would like to go in and knock his block off, I just ignore it.  I know he is trying to get attention out of it, but I refuse to give in.  And believe me, it is HARD.  He is a mama's boy, so when he has legitimate reasons to cry, it breaks my heart... but when he throws these crying/screaming tantrums, I just think, "what am I doing wrong?"  Where have I gone wrong in my parenting that he has decided to take this route when he's upset.  My daughter never went through this phase. 

I'm at my wits end... do I invest in earplugs or try to take him back to WalMart... any advice??

Big Boys Don't Cry?

This is me at my wit's end...

My 3 year old son cries over everything... no, really, EVERYTHING!  It is starting to make me a little crazy, and I've tried so many things to get him to not do this.  He will cry because you tell him no, he will cry because someone turns the channel on the tv, he will cry because he ran out of toilet paper.  He cries over everything.  Now, I believe it's okay to cry for certain reasons and I understand that he is a child, so I cut him a little slack.  If he gets hurt, if his favorite toy breaks, I get it, go ahead and cry, Son.  But no exaggeration, I would say he cries at least twenty times a day!

And this is a mixture of just throwing his head back and wailing and the occasional real tears.  But if you distract him, two seconds later he will be laughing and smiling.

So what's a mom to do?  (Other than get a Xanax prescription.)  I've scoured the interweb for ideas and solutions with no success.  I've tried ignoring it and going on with life as usual.  I've tried sending him to his room every time and telling him he can't come out until he's done crying.  I've tried timeout.  The one thing I haven't done is give in and give him what he's crying about.

An example:  I am cleaning the living room and he comes up and tells me he wants candy.  Now, my kids get candy maybe once a week, so the likelihood I'm just going to give him random candy is as rare as seeing an albino rhinoceros in Central Park.  So I will simply say, "no, you're not getting candy" and bam!- the crying starts.  There's occasionally throwing himself on the floor crying, hitting things, throwing things, full blown tantrums.

When will it end?  What can I do?  It's been going on for at least three months and since I am the one around him 98% of the time, I know it's not because someone else in his life is giving into him.  It embarrasses me when people come over and see him do this or when I am babysitting kids younger than him and they ask why L is crying. 

Someone attempted to tell me that it's because I didn't let him cry it out as a baby.  I really don't think that's the case.  I didn't let my daughter cry it out and her only issue is a bad attitude.

I'm at a loss.  This is one conundrum that has me pulling my hair out and banging my head on the wall.  I am willing to try anything at this point short of shock therapy.  Help!