How do you react to a public tantrum?

mlm1128

Last night dd had the mother of all fits in Walmart of all places.  Clearly she believed we were there for the sole purpose of allowing her to use the potty repeatedly.  I am not kidding, in 7 minutes I took her twice and she asked to go again.  This is all fun for her, she went potty the first time.

I try to talk to her and tell her to calm down, I have things to do and blah blah blah.  Sometimes it works sometoimes it doesn't (like last night) and we leave until she can get herself in check.

This is not an issue for me...all kids have melt downs.  Unfortunately, DH was there last night.  He is completely mortified and hates that people might be looking at us (of course they are, I would too if it was someone else).  He handles it by going two aisles away and pretending he doesn't know us.  Naturally, this reulted in a rather large fight when we got to the car.  How do you handle a tantrum in public, and how does your dh react?

katie277s

Your DH walked away and acted like he didn't know you???  That is just shitty.  I agree, it is hard when your child throws a fit, but that is when you remove them from the situation (like you said you do).  However, if you were BOTH there, why was he not helping you with her???  If my DH walked away and left me to deal with DS all on my own, he would be walking home!

Zenya

It doesn't happen very often but I just leave.  DS only melts down when he's tired or hungry or something though.  So it's just time to go.  DH just does the same thing.

almostjennifer

1. Talking to her calmly.

2. Distraction (I'm not above pulling a sucker out of the diaper bag or grabbing some animal crackers from a shelf).

3. If none of the above work, I drop everything, pick her up and leave.

Lea LaJeunesse-Askren

mlm1128:

 

  Unfortunately, DH was there last night.  He is completely mortified and hates that people might be looking at us (of course they are, I would too if it was someone else).  He handles it by going two aisles away and pretending he doesn't know us.  Naturally, this reulted in a rather large fight when we got to the car.  How do you handle a tantrum in public, and how does your dh react?

Your H name isn't Dave is it? MH always pulls that on me.

prtysimple

We haven't really had one yet.  I would also try to talk her out of it, or leave.  And yeah, I'd be pissed at my DH if he did that too.  He should try to help.  Who cares what people think.  If they have kids they understand.  If they don't then screw 'em.  But honestly my DH would probably get a little more angry then he should and would most likely just pick her up and leave right away.

almostjennifer

Oh and I would have rained hellfire down up on my DH if he had left me in that situation.

shouldbeworkin

mlm1128:

I try to talk to her and tell her to calm down, I have things to do and blah blah blah.  Sometimes it works sometoimes it doesn't (like last night) and we leave until she can get herself in check.

 

That's what I do.  I'm sorry, but your DH's reaction made me LOL.  You'd think they'd be over being mortified by their kids by now!  It was just Walmart anyway.  I doubt it was the first or last tantrum there that day.  ;-)

mlm1128

HA HA!  No Bostonmama, we aren't married to the same man!  I swear to god, I do not understand why he gets so embarrassed.  Did he really think this would never happen??  I can't wait for the day that he is alone with her and she pulls one of these. 

mlm1128

I was really mad at the time...but it didn't take me long to actually see the humor in what he did.  He just needs to remember it..I will repay the favor sometime in the future.

annak23

Wow! I can't believe your DH walked away! I would be so mad! 

Usually, we put DD in the cart from the beginning, so she is not distracted by running around & delaying our shopping.  If she starts to fuss or scream then I know she's hungry or tired & I need to pick up the pace & I try to distract her by giving her an object from inside the cart to hold on to.  If she is trying to get out & is totally screaming, then one of us will take her out & walk the aisle with her or take her to the toy section while the other one finishes up the shopping. 

 

goodhartedmommy

Pick them up and leave, if I can't get them to calm down within a minute or two.

emilykristene2006

I had to lol too. Next time it happens, maybe you should walk away too. DD might be so confused that she'd calm down. I'm kidding of course. I really don't know what I would have done (to him).

To answer your question, I give her a snack. So far that has worked. Not too long ago I had a bad day with DD and her tantrums. We decided to go to dinner. They took too long bringing the highchair. I refuse to put DD in a booster seat. Dinner does not go well when that happens. Well, she flipped when the highchair came. Started her tantrum. I asked her if she wanted to go home. She said no. She continued to scream. I told DH we were not doing this and I picked her up and carried her out while she screamed, "I want dinner!!"

When we got to the van DH wanted to put the dvd on to calm her down. I told him absolutley not. I'm not rewarding her. She screamed the entire way home.

getnmarried910

Honestly, I tell my 2 year old we're going to the bathroom.  She knows bathroom means a spanking (potty is for going potty).  That usually quiets her right down.  If I know it's because she is hungry, we get some string cheese and that does the trick as well.  I've gotten to the point where I rarely go out without some sort of snack and sippy cups with juice.  She also LOVES the organic vanilla and chocolate milk at Starbucks, so if she's good, she knows that is a treat.  DS hasn't gotten to that point yet, but food usually keeps him quiet anyway.

shopgirl78

Take away the priveledge of letting her walk. ?She goes in the cart and she can scream all she wants there. ?I'm not giving in and I don't usually leave. ? I try to think of something she can look forward to and tell her if she is good, we will XYZ when we are all done. ?

That's awful about your DH. ?Mine would have given in to whatever the tantrum was about?