Almost 2 - tantrums

ASullivan1231 · March 2014

What do I do when my 2 year old throws tantrums?

When he doesn't get what he wants he screams, throws things and hits I don't know if I should ignore, redirect, discipline etc. What is discipline at this age?

Any help is great.

kcisthebombdotcom · March 2014

It varies on the kid. With ds, ignoring made him escalate into an hour long tantrum. I would never give him his way but would empathize that he was sad over x and offer comfort. I'd do something silly and we would redirect to something else. Dd needs her space for a few minutes when she tantrums. When I see her starting to calm I do similar--empathize I know she's sad/mad because of x and offer comfort. Do something silly to break her bad mood and we are done.

dmartin726 · March 2014

I was able to ignore DD. I would say, please leave my kitchen until you can calm down. If she didn't leave, I would walk out. If I fed into it, it would continue forever. She's very dramatic. By ignoring it, it would just completely diffuse in 5 minutes.

Now when she snaps out of it, she comes to me and says "mama I'm all better now. I'm happy now." haha.

But like KC said. Each kid is different, you have to figure out with works for you. Find something and stick to it. Consistency will help. They know they will get the same reaction from you, and eventually/hopefully the tantrums will lessen.

LatteLady5 · March 2014

DD gets a calm down when she tantrums, though it's rare. She sits in the time out spot until she stops crying. When she's done she'll either wait for me to come to her or she'll just come over to me and say in the sweetest little voice "I sigh mommy." If I just walk away or try to ignore it she just follows me around wailing. Just figure out what works for you and stick with that. Like PP's said, all kids are different.

EandIMommy86 · March 2014

We are going through this now. I will usually just ignore DD when she does that and it doesn't last very long. After she gets it together, she carries on as if nothing happened. Since I don't play into it, she usually doesn't have tantrums that last a long time.

vlagrl29 · March 2014

time out if he hits or throws things

ASullivan1231 · March 2014

So I guess right now I think the ignoring would work well for him. Sometimes though he needs a time out to cool down. He is a super active kid though and won't stay still in time out so I've put him in his crib for 2 to 3 minutes and it seems to help.

LoriLee14 · March 2014

If it is just a tantrum, I ignore the best I can. I walk away, I find a chore to do.

If he hits or throws something then I put him in time out for one min. But he is good in timeout.

Also I just sing to myself (not trying to get him to engage) but is it nursery rhymes. It sometimes helps to distract him and calms him. He likes music

LinnyAnne10 · March 2014

at that age. I ignored him, and it defused pretty quick.

Now I tell him that I can't help until he uses his big boy words and stop crying. It normally works pretty good, he calms down enough to tell me what's wrong, and we talk it out to where he understands why he can't do/have X