FollowIf you are the parent of a toddler, you’ve either already experienced the “joy” of a tantrum or you soon will. The terrible-ness of this age as a child is born of frustration. Your child is increasingly able to interact with the world and has a tough time dealing with not being able to do all the things he sees others doing. They are also just learning to communicate and again, not being able to express all the things they want to can be very frustrating. Here are some tips that will help to in dealing with the terrible twos.
The most important things that you can do as a parent in dealing with this occasionally frustrating time is to not have tantrums yourself and be a consistent. Most of how your child learns to interact with the world at this age comes from watching you. Therefore, if you react to being frustrated (either with your child or other things) by lashing out, your child will learn to do this also.
Remember that your child has limited ability to communicate and control the world around them, consistency and routine is very important to them. Trying to minimize the disruption around them can do a lot in making things go more smoothly for them and by extension, you.
Some other things to keep in mind is that by giving them small choices, they will have some control over things. As a result, you are helping them to keep calm.
Making sure they are getting good, nutritious meals helps by not letting blood sugar spike, which can cause bad behavior and moodiness. Getting good sleep at consistent times also goes a long way towards keeping the tantrums at bay.
If you find yourself dealing with a tantrum, the two biggest things are to keep calm yourself and to get the child to a private space. Removing the audience and external stimulation will go a long way towards calming your child. The toddler stage can be trying but it is also one of the most rewarding stages of your child’s development.
