What do you do about temper tantrums?

Liz&Eric

DD is GREAT at throwing temper tantrums. I swear she took lessons from a 2 year old. I put her down... She screams. I shut the dishwasher because she shouldn't be in there... she screams. EVERYTHING causes her to melt down these days and I am starting to lose it. These are very toddlerish behaviors and I am aware that it is normal, but her tantrums seem very extreme for her age. I try to be consistent and divert her attention to something positive, but that is rarely working lately. These tantrums seem to be happening at a very early age. I am scared for the terrible twos. Any tips? What works for you?

MegGary

This is horrible but I laugh. I think they are cute. Whenever DD does this I just turn away & giggle.

Really I just ignore them & don't give them the attention she wants. Whenever I do that they usually end in about 2 seconds & on to something else.

If she does have one & than goes back to doing what she was told not to she gets a time out. We have a chair for this & she has to sit in it for a minute. Than when the minute is up I go & explain agian why she had a time out.

Temp449052375008045

DS is the SAME way. Everything causes a tantrum. I ignore unwanted behavior. If I give the bad behavior attention, even negative, it seems to cause it even more. He usually moves on pretty quickly when I ignore the tantrum.

Good luck.

Califlorida

if it's something she wants that she can have, like i'm not pouring her milk fast enough, i'll just say calmly "can you say please?" sometimes she will. if she's pitching a fit about something she can't have then i find something she can have and offer it instead. like, she can't play in the dishwasher, but i'll give her a clean spoon to play with. that usually ends it. if she feels like she has a choice, or something new to focus on she forgets what she was so pissed about to begin with.

jerzeygirl4ever

Try and divert her attention to something "safer" & fun--or say they tell me, lol! I've also been told to reinforce when they are doing something positive!!!

murphyec

DS does this.  Anytime we tell him no, he screams his little head off.  We just ignore it and try not to laugh.

yoko589

I ignore them too.  If she gets upset and throws herself on the floor, I just walk away.  She gets up 2 seconds later and she goes about her business.  They are just testing our reactions.  I am hoping it gets better soon but it might get worse before it gets better!

LaLaSweets

murphyec:

DS does this.  Anytime we tell him no, he screams his little head off.  We just ignore it and try not to laugh.

i know me too