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Temper Tantrums
Every parent will know the embarrassment felt, when queuing with a
loaded trolley in a crowded shop, and having a screaming toddler at
your feet, who at the time will go out of her way to destroy
everything in sight - including your sanity. Times like these, are
here to test our parenting skills, and while you may feel totally
hopeless, and be convinced that everyone else in the shop thinks
that you are the most dreadful parent in the world, it does offer a
little peace knowing that temper tantrums are common at this age,
being an important part of a child's development. Tantrums, commonly
known as the 'terrible two's', can start at any stage from 18 months
onwards, and are a child's way of assuring you of his growing
independence, by expressing his own opinion, which with limited
vocabulary can be quite difficult to do at this stage.
Temper outbursts occur more frequently when the child is tired,
hungry or over-stimulated, and can present itself in the form of
whining, crying or with the child throwing himself to the floor,
kicking, and banging his head in fits of anger. By the time your
child reaches his third birthday, his improved language skills,
should offer him an alternative to expressing his emotions, and
tantrums should be a thing of the past.
As difficult as it may be to do at the time, you should remain
calm. Don't reward this sort of behaviour by pleading or even
shouting at him or giving in to his demands in an order to quieten
him. Rather ignore the behaviour completely, or firmly tell your
child that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable to you. Once the
child is aware that performance will not guarantee getting his own
way, he will eventually give them up.
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