Dealing with your child’s temper tantrum is no picnic, especially when you’re out and about in public under the watchful eye of judgy people.
Usually kids decide to throw the biggest and loudest wobbly of all time when you’re at a complete disadvantage because you’re not at home and able to deal with this like you usually would.
The key to maintaining your composure and effectively dealing with temper tantrums is to have a few tricks up your sleeve so you’re not caught off guard.
Flipping your lid and yelling will do nothing to calm your child; in fact you’ll just fuel the fire and add to the hysteria. Take the softly but firmly approach and try to use a calm voice, even if you’re screaming on the inside. The sooner you can defuse the situation the quicker you can get on with your business and head home.
Hint: It’s been proven that being told to calm down has the complete opposite effect!
Distraction is another tactic that often proves valuable when you can’t seem to stop your child from continuing their tantrum. Tell your child you can’t find a certain item or shop that you know they will be able to and ask them for their help. If you’re at the supermarket ask them to pick the best looking apples or carrots.
One of the worst things parents can do when trying to tame a temper tantrum around is to give in and offer all sorts of bribes to get them to stop. Not only will this make kids think they’ll get rewarded for misbehaving in the future, but it’s usually not that effective.
Try and do the reverse, tell them that their behaviour is unacceptable and that they have just lost a certain privilege, such as screen time, a play date or their favourite treat for lunch. Explain to get that certain reward back they have to stop their tantrum and behave nicely for the rest of the day.
Tip: Pretend you’ve just seen something usual fly or walk by and ask your child if they saw it too – this might help change their train of thought.
If you’ve tried all of the above and nothing is working then there’s no harm in just walking away and carrying about your business, your child will either scream louder or scramble up from the floor and run after you.
For the really brave, try replicating your child’s behaviour. For example if they’re on the floor, then hit the deck and start thrashing about. If they’re stomping their feet and crying, copy them. They’ll either start laughing or be shocked enough to pull their head in and behave. Either that or you’ll cause such a scene you’ll draw a crowd or security!
Love the Healthy Mummy team xxx
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