Children throw tantrums driven by a wide range of reasons. It is the parent’s responsibility to deal patiently with it and learn some tricks that can come handy in defusing these tantrums before they go beyond control.
Is your child going to throw a tantrum again?
Tantrums are very common with children, even with well-behaved kids! Children become frustrated either due to hunger, fatigue or lack of sleep and it is best to remember that their tantrums do not reflect your manner of parenting in any way. While all parents would love a child that had tantrum free life, this is not possible. So, the next best thing is to learn how to defuse these tantrums before they blow up to an impossible size.
Identify the reasons
One of the best ways to defuse temper tantrums in toddlers is to identify the reasons causing the tantrum and avoiding it. For example, if your toddler is nearing his or her bedtime, do not go out on your errands till he or she has gone to sleep. This way, you will not need to bear a tantrum. While this is an ideal situation, this may not be possible all the time, as toddlers have remarkable ways to introduce new tantrums at the most unexpected circumstances and as parents, we have to deal with them as appropriately as possible.
One such sudden eruption of a tantrum could be the resistance to being strapped to his or her car seat. However, when faced with a tantrum, the easiest thing for any parent to do is to either make a game out of the entire issue or use simple bribery to get them to buckle up. My daughter loves songs and I use that as a prop to buckle her up in her car seat. Needless to say that it works for me every time.
Common causes
Another very common tantrum thrown by most children is when they are required to leave what they are doing and go home or to bed. Most children hate to leave their game half way and often rebel by throwing tantrums. The simple way to stop this tantrum is to start a few minutes before you actually want them to leave, as this prepares them for leaving. If you are at the park, you could tell your toddler that he or she has to go home after two rounds on the swing or slide.
Showing affection to relatives is something that does not come easily to most toddlers and could cause a problem, especially if your relative expects certain displays of affection such as a hug or a kiss on the cheek. While it is impossible to force this upon a toddler, you could prepare him or her in advance and also supplement it by showing your affection in front of the toddler and hope that he or she imitates it.
Everyday routines
Sometimes, simple routine activities, like brushing their teeth, can be a cause for a tantrum with the child refusing to obey the rules. While these are absolutely necessary for the better health of the child, it is impossible to force it on the toddler. Instead, you should try and make it more interesting so that the toddler will actually try it. Alternatively, instead of asking your toddler whether he or she wants to brush, you could say that it is time for brushing their teeth.
Eating in a frenzy
Last but not the least, eating is one of the main areas where most toddlers love to throw tantrums, especially when they have to eat vegetables. While this is definitely an area of concern, you should never make an issue out of it. Try to make the meal attractive to the child. Alternatively, you could give your child fruits instead of veggies, especially those that are rich in vitamins.
For more related articles on your toddler and tantrums, see:
If my toddler throws another tantrum, I’ll scream!