It is important for parents to come to terms with the fact that at some point or the other their toddler will throw a tantrum. Having a temper tantrum is a common thing during the developmental stages in childhood. This can however vary depending on the nature of your child. On the other hand you should not blame yourself because temper tantrums are not essentially a result of poor parenting.

Usually toddler temper tantrums involve crying, purring, kicking, screaming, breath holding or hitting. These temper tantrums are seen to occur equally in both boys as well as girls in the age group of 1-4 years. There are some toddlers who might have temper tantrums more frequently in comparison to others.

In the toddler age children are actively involved in learning things around themselves and also new skills and not to forget coping up with their own emotions. When a toddler experiences difficulty in carrying out some task or understanding a particular feature he/she releases the frustration in the form of a tantrum.

Here are some few tactics for stopping a toddler’s temper tantrum:

Communication: The more your toddler develops the language skill you would observe that the temper tantrums would decrease. Having an alternative to express their emotions can bring down the toddler temper tantrums. If your toddler still cannot communicate then you can consider teaching him/her sign language. Having this communications means has helped many parents in reducing temper tantrums seen in toddlers. Besides add some words to these signs so that your toddler can pick up easily and get a means of expressing their emotions.

It is important to realize that when a toddler is in the phase of temper tantrum their ability to understand what the parent is saying reduces and they block themselves. There are some techniques that you can apply to deal with this situation:

• Hold your child close, till the tantrum phase passes and once your child calms down put words to his/her expression.

• Consult your pediatrician. At times the tantrums can go out of control and for this you need to handle the child differently.

Take control of situation: Most of the times you should know what trigger a temper tantrum. If you limit, these situations then, you can avoid these toddler temper tantrums most of the times.

• Keep things away from sight that toddlers can reach out for.

• Keep a stock of your child’s favorite snacks so that you can offer them when the tantrum starts.

• Keep some activities in mind so that you can divert the attention of your child.

Attention: There are many toddlers who show temper tantrums to gain attention. Make sure that your toddler does not have a tantrum to gain your attention. Give your child as much attention as you can and as much as they need.

In the end patience is the best remedy for all the problems. Handle your toddler temper tantrums with patience and do not react in a negative manner. Reacting to your child’s temper tantrums in a negative manner would only make the tantrum worse and would not help your child in any way. Keep in mind that the way you groom your child right from the toddler age, the best person your child would be in the future.

Jonathan Pitts

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