Parenting 101: Managing Tantrum Behaviors in 6 Ways
Being a parent is not easy. There are lots of things to think about, more so things to do at home, in the office, and when outside.
Especially if you are working at the same time, your mind can’t help but think about the condition of your kids at home and in school. You would wonder how they are coping up with the chores, the activities given to them, and their relationship with others.
One of the things that most parents worry about with their kids is when they exhibit tantrums. Tantrums, as we all know, is an unpleasant behavior displayed by a young child out of frustration and anger.
While this type of behavior may not be present to all kids, it could happen anytime without you knowing it! That is why one of the most pressing questions asked by a lot of parents these days is how to manage their children’s tantrum behaviors. If you want to know the answer, read on and know these tips:
Keep your cool
When tantrum behaviors are being displayed, the best way you can do to manage the entire situation is to keep your cool. This means staying calm and never react to the situation right away.
By taking some deep breaths, you are telling yourself that the situation is completely manageable. Don’t let your emotions get on the way too. This will make the situation worse. If that happens, you would not be able to resolve the entire situation right away.
Build trust
Right from the very beginning, you need to ensure that you have already built trust with your young one. The truth is that trust is an important element that every young child needs to feel and experience as part of their growth and development.
Without trust, the child may feel unsafe and insecure. That is why whenever your child displays a tantrum behavior, ensure that you will not leave him or her lying on the ground crying because this will only make the child feel unloved or abandoned.
If you have already built trust with your young one, you can be sure that he or she will easily trust you with whatever you say.
Set some limitations
As a parent, you have the right to set a limit to your young one. By setting limitations, you are teaching them what is right and wrong. For example, you would tell them why physical violence is wrong. You can be clear with your instructions or when setting limitations.
Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No. This will avoid confusion on the part of your child. Rather, discipline your child to follow and obey rules. Of course, don’t also expect your child to follow the rules right away. That is why being consistent with your words is the key. This will not only build trust but also will ultimately teach them how to listen and obey.
Acknowledge their feelings
In order to lessen the need to protest, you can acknowledge the feelings of your young loved one. By acknowledging their feelings, you make sure that you put into words their wishes and likes.
For example, if your little one is acting out because he wants to eat chocolate, you can respond by saying, “I understand that you want to eat chocolates.”
This would make him feel significant as a child, and the likelihood of him understanding the entire situation would be higher in the end.
Explain your part
There must be a reason why you refused to give him what he wants. Therefore, it would be better to explain to your child what the reason was.
Explaining the reason would make the child understand the entire situation and would make him calm down a bit. Also, this would make the child feel that you are truly concern of him and not the other way around.
Avoid the tendency of making your child feel deprived of his wishes by explaining to him the reason for the refusal.
Focus on finding a solution
There will be times when the child still does not want to calm down despite of all the explanations. This does not happen all the time, but in case it does, at least you know already how to handle it.
In case situations like this happens, the best way to handle it is to find a solution right away. Depending on the situation, you may offer something that will cause his mind and attention to be deviated from. Perhaps you can show him something amusing to watch or give him something he has not yet seen before. You can be as creative and shrewd as you want yourself to be.
While tantrums are unpleasant to watch and handle, it is actually just part of the process of being a parent. So don’t easily get discouraged or frustrated about it, always remember that there’s always solution to any parental problem.
