We just had to deal with what I would call ” the mother of toddler tantrums” from Sophie. Granted that she only had a half hour nap today this afternoon, (please remind me it’s always a bad idea to take a sleeping toddler from the car and hope she stays asleep ) her tantrums tonight were way over the top.
She cried, screamed, threw her body when we wanted to change her diapers, pulled off her top when we wanted to change her PJs, cried even more, insisted on being carried, had free flowing mucus down her nose (erm okay too much details) pointed to the hall and kept saying outside, outside and just simply refused to sleep.
And when Daddy finally managed to calm her down by switching on the dimmer lights in the hall she insisted on playing with the switches to delay her bed time and launched into another unstoppable tantrum when she was told no.
Despite feeling like I just want to mute her up, I just grabbed her, carried her and whispered into her ears that we will go outside and ride on her bicycle tomorrow if she’s a good girl among other things like you’re sleepy and you know you really want to sleep. I think the lullaby did the trick too and she even gamely mumbled the last words of each stanza of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in between sobs before she finally took her milk bottle and went to sleep.
Here’s the Drama Queen at ECP last Tuesday refusing to get up and play.
My little babe is soon becoming a Drama Queen and I pray I’ll have the wisdom to deal with these tantrum episodes that are seemigly more frequent now that she’s approaching the coming of age-the dreaded Terrible Twos. Some nights, before she goes to sleep, I’ll say a prayer for her that she’ll be more easy on us and be obedient to her parents, remain joyful and also be patient with us as we try our best to understand what she’s going through.
I always like to tell her, when you’re cute, you’re cute as cute can be, but when you’re naughty, you’re a terror!
Until now I’m still conflicted between talking nicely to her or having to punish her for bad behavior. How do you deal with your child’s tantrums?
Tagged: tantrums, Terrible twos, toddler
Oh gosh… the tantrums… can’t run from them, yet so scary to handle most of the time! :p I guess we do both (ie talk nicely and punish), depending on the situation. Find that most of the tantrums are either tiredness/hunger-related, so if I manage to work around his schedule of nap/mealtimes, usually the incidences of tantrums lessen. Hang in there mama!
Jus,
Yea, it’s always easier to anticipate a possible tantrum and avoid it at all cost by feeding them or tucking them to bed than to deal with their tantrums. Reminding myself to be more aware of her needs and watch her body language to avoid these nasty tantrums.
Meltdowns are really tough to deal with! We’ve had our fair share too and agree with Jus that tiredness and hunger play a huge part. It is so tough to know what is right/wrong to do isn’t it? So many factors to consider, including the type of temperament each of our kids have. I’ve found that time-out and removing the Bub from the situation helps. Distraction helps too, if it is possible! My consolation is that this tantrum phase will too shall pass! (erm and then we’ll be on to something else ;P)
Susan,
i can totally related to the “which part of NO, do you dont get it?” haha..
i have totally give up scolding Denson.. i maintained my peace and speak to him nicely.. as nicely as i can.. i repeat myself many times in a v v nice tone.. he eventually take it.. that makes him super sticky to me too.. n now he rejected his daddy totally.
wonder if u read the forum, the ladies recommended this method to tame the kids down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrxBKvV1p-A&sns=em
hope it helps!
Corsage,
Haha I love your optimism. Yes that phrase was my mantra when dealing with her colicky days but now those days seems so mild when they slept after every 4,5 hours.
Joyce,
Yes I saw that from kiki’s blog too. It was rather funny and I don’t know if I can do it consistently when we are out. I do want to maintain some image (although there is none to speak of when I have to run after her in the malls).
I recently make her stand in the naught corner if she behaves badly. She seems to understand as she gives a guilty and apologetic look.
Luckily my son hasn’t thrown any tantrums yet. I’m bracing myself for when they arrive though!
Hi Toni,
You know what they say about being prepared is half the battle won. Good luck!
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