Tantrums?

Amelia4

K has started throwing tantrums in the past week or so.  He gets very upset, throws himself on the floor, arches his back, the whole works.  I've been reading about this stage and some tricks seem to work and some don't. What has worked/not worked:

He's only had them at home so daycare has been spared so far.

We have to wait until the anger stage is over before trying to console him or it just makes it longer. 

Full out ignoring doesn't seem to help, but parallel play of sorts does.  Last night I read a Dr. Seuss book out loud near him, but not to him, and that seemed to calm him down.

Once he is over the anger stage, a hug and "it must be so frustrating to have such strong emotions but not the words to express them" helps.

They seemed to happen when he was hungry and/or tired, but this morning he had one about 1/2 hour after getting up and had just eaten.

Any of you ladies have thoughts or advice? I assume it gets worse before it gets better; I read last night that tantrums last through age 4 (yikes!).

Ms5586

It all sounds perfectly normal.  It really won't get better until they can better express themselves.  We pretty much do what you do.  When he first throws his fit, I say something like "I know you're mad you can't have mommy's laptop" o

Amelia4

Thanks, Ms! I love the crepe paper and balloon ideas.  Those are great little tips to alleviate boredom.  I

Jcraul

Ya, we have them weekly at our house too.  usually around dinner time if she didn't eat that well that day at daycare. We're in the ignore stage & then I offer a small snack and something to drink before dinner.

JKGymnast

We must have read the same article. Haha. I try the same stuff and I'm getting better results than the ignore method.

What a fun stage, hu?

Oh, I also try to redirect her attention. Once she is relatively calm we go grab a doll

Amelia4

Thanks, ladies!  Here's hoping our LOs stay the darling angels we know them to be. 

becasmeca

In the article I read about conscious discipline it suggested going by an ABC model...
A: antecedent; what was the environment like before the outburst occurredfor the care taker Nd toddler!

B: behavior; what did the tantrum look like?

Amelia4

Beca - I'll try to remember the ABC then 3Ds.  Those seem like very helpful tips!  Thank you.

And your post reminded me I do have a couple parenting books I should dust off.

Ms5586

becasmeca:

Can you tell I have no clue what I am doing? Thank goodness for our new plan! I am sticking to it no matter what!<