Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
jld49
member
Temper tantrums/Bad Behavior Woes & Your Best Recommended Response
jld49
member
I'm starting to wonder if I should be concerned how often my 19 mth old son is screaming his head off in a sort of temper tantrum-- or doing what I tell him NOT to do. I just want to be sure my response is one that will eventually result in him not having temper tantrums, at some point. Is that a reasonable expectation?
Do any of you see your LO slowly changing their behavior as a result of whatever strategy/response you use? Or do they just have them for the next year or two and sort of grow out of it? What does your LO flip out over? How often?
1. DS will scream when the food doesn't come out quick enough for meals-- and/or it's not a food he's crazy about. But this situation usually calms down quickly. But I want to teach him not to scream. My response to this is to try to get the food more quickly--and tell him I'm working on it, just a few more minutes.
2. He throws the biggest fit when we have to change his diaper- it's absolutely a battle-- not always-- but most of the time, despite many attempts at giving fun toys to distract. We have also tried "speaking toddlerese" and acknowledging his frustration w the diaper change-- but he's still getting upset.
3. He also lately has a fit sometimes when I have to change his shirt. He will cry for a good 10/15 minutes if I force the shirt on. I now leave it and come back later to change it.
4. And finally, the newest is his fit for more milk. We still give him milk after his bath while reading books before bed, so inevitably he has to brush his teeth after the books. His new thing is to then to want even more milk after having brushed his teeth already. He flips out if we won't give him more-- which is bad because we're about to put him in his crib to sleep and he's really upset. I've given in to him and I've let him go into his crib upset, both of which have resulted in him calming down within a few minutes. I just hate putting him in his crib for the night upset.
DS is also climbing onto and standing on a variety of household items that are very unsafe-- and is laughing when I tell him not too. Help!
I'm trying to balance giving him as much control over his life as he can get, as I know he gets very little as 19mth old---with keeping him safe, healthy, happy. I've used one minute time outs in his crib, firm "no's", not giving too much attention to a negative behavior (at times ignoring it), positive reinforcement for the good behavior, and Harvey Karp's strategies. I'm just not sure I'm seeing any change....
In general, the little guy is pretty happy and good-natured, but he's hit a stage where a maybe once or twice a day he gets very upset.
Would love to head your thoughts/ideas/and your own experiences!
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Re: Temper tantrums/Bad Behavior Woes & Your Best Recommended Response
My little guy started screaming like a madman at 12 months old and still does at 19 months when we change his diaper. They like to be running and exploring not tied down even its for a 30 second diaper change.
I notice he screams for food when he is starving. Give him a cracker while you get food ready.
just remember he doesn't know his emotions or how to deal with them. Help him learn!
also with the milk thing he is probably just hungry...let him drink more! He is too small to over eat!