What Every Parent Wants To Know: How Do You Tame Tantrums?

“Mommy I want this. Can I have it?” says the child.

“No darling. We have food at home,” says the Mother.

“BUT I WANT IT! WAHH!” says the flustered child.

Has your child ever had a meltdown in public? What did you do? How did you handle it?

Most of us can say, “I’ve been there!” It can be a frustrating stage in your and your child’s life because everything is just a little bit (or a lot) harder. But, trust us when we say they’ll grow out of it!

Every child is different, but their reactions to how you handle each situation can be the same. No tantrum lasts forever, but it may seem like it will. One important reason that children have tantrums is because they are trying to tell you something but don’t have the vocabulary to communicate their feelings.

According to Parent Magazine, there are ten tantrum fixes that both parenting experts and other moms swear by. They include:

1. Ignore your child – This may sound mean, but emotions are taking over -- overriding the frontal cortex of the brain, the area that makes decisions and judgments. Your child will eventually cool down on his or her own.
2. Know which kind of tantrum your child is having (meltdown, dramatic, public) – This will help you identify which way to respond.
3. Give your child space – This allows your child to get their feelings out, pull themselves together and regain self-control.
4. Create a diversion – This will allow the child to forget about the tantrum they’re having almost instantaneously.
5. Discipline without spanking – This allows you to show your child that there are natural consequences to certain behaviors.
6. Find out what’s frustrating your child – This is when sign language will come in handy! Or you can ask your child to point to something they want.
7. Give your child a firm hug – Hugs make kids feel secure and let them know that you care about them.
8. Offer Food or Rest – If your child’s tantrums usually occur before lunch, before naptime, and in the early evening, they are probably caused by hunger or fatigue.
9. Incentive to behave – The key is to give an incentive to your child before the tantrum happens. That way if you feel one coming on, you can gently remind him or her about the "treat" you discussed.
10. Speak calmly – Keep your cool during a child's tantrum. Otherwise, you may into a power struggle.

We’re sure there are many other ways you can handle your child’s temper tantrums, but these are ways other mothers swear by. We hope these tips will help you and your child communicate better and ease the number of tantrums.

Have you found a technique that gets your child to calm down?  We’d love to hear from you, please share with us in the comments!

Do you know of a parent looking for a quality daycare or preschool in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor or the surrounding areas? Please encourage them to contact us to schedule a tour of Little Angels Preschool & Daycare.