How to Avoid Tantrums
Toddlers throw tantrums for a variety of reasons, both logical and illogical. They can have a seizure for obvious reasons that they are just tired at the end of a long day, or they can be fine for a second and very angry that you dared to pour their milk into a green cup when you should have known they wanted a blue one. But the baby’s parents can count on one thing: the likelihood of hysteria at each transition.
Transition tantrums don’t necessarily just happen when a toddler has to leave one place (say, a playground) to move to another (boring old house). Any transition where one ends and another can begin can provoke a collapse – even if they like what they start . This is because, as Big Little Feelings points out, toddler brains don’t like to be surprised; the world feels insecure when they don’t know what’s next.
This is why they suggest you use the PREP method to help curb your tantrums. These are Plan ahead, Expand the plan, Explain the details, and Give your little one something small. It looks like this :
- First, plan ahead. For example, if you need to leave for school at 8:15 am, do not wait until 8:11 am to collect all your belongings. If you do this, you will feel stressed and rushed, and your little one will surely pick up on the vibe.
- Then open the plan. Tell your toddler what happened: “At 8:15 am we are going to go to school.”
- Next, explain the details. Tell us about everything your little one can expect: “We’re going to have breakfast, and then we’ll brush our teeth and get dressed. Next, we will collect the backpack and go to the pot. After that, you will sit in the car seat and we will go to school. “
- And finally, put the kid in charge of something small. All people want to feel strong and valuable, even the smallest ones. So let your little one make a pint-sized decision. “Do you want to wear a blue jacket or purple?”
Will this work every time? Of course not, don’t be a fool. Sometimes babies just become toddlers and are afraid to take a bath, even though they knew they were going to have to take a bath.
But getting in the habit of talking about what’s next so that they know what to expect from their day (and can take charge of the transition) helps reduce the factor of surprise and makes them at least a little more susceptible to change. …
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