Toddler tantrums!

We seem to be entering a new season of parenting Noah as the famous toddler tantrums have well and truly begun! There are many reasons why children between the ages of 1-3 throw tantrums, a lot of which are to do with their own frustrations with communicating. Children often have a much greater understanding of vocabulary at this age than they are able to express verbally. 

At the moment, I feel that Noah's moments of 'acting out' are more related to his tiredness, for example today he has not really settled for his naps at all and as a result he is much more crankier than usual! 

Taking the television remote off of him, or computer cables, or anything that is not a toy to play with, for that matter, can result in a fully blown tantrum with a full display of screaming and kicking. Most parents out there will know these are not always easy to deal with and offer new challenges to parents who are just at the beginnings of disciplining our little darlings.

Now, I am no expert on this topic by any means, but I do believe the most important thing to remember in these situations is to be consistent. If I give into Noah and let him use the remote control as a toy, it sends him a confused message and also reinforces that bad behaviour will eventually end in getting what he wanted. This kind of pattern will certainly not bode well in the future years to come!

I do find distraction techniques work really well to diffuse opportunities for tantrums. He responds so well to praise and so by giving him easy tasks, like passing mummy his book to read to him, I am able to give him lots of praise in return. He is quickly learning how to win praise by being obedient and the confidence this gives him is increasingly obvious to see.

All children have to learn at some stage what is right and wrong and what kinds of behaviour are acceptable. The only way they learn is by 'pushing the boundaries' (at first not even realising they exist.) But having consistent parenting is definitely key to their quicker grasping and understanding of what is expected of them and also of respecting their parents.

We definitely have a journey ahead of us and it won't always be easy but, hopefully, following some simple guidelines that I have mentioned will work in our favour!

Happy Sunday!

Love Bunty

xXx