Temper Tantrums

The screaming. The yelling. The kicking, fighting and biting.

Although a completely normal part of early childhood development, when your child’s caught in a tempestuous temper tantrum, what’s a parent to do?  There are five types of tantrums.Here we’ll focus on and contrast two: (a) manipulative (demand) tantrums and (b) disruptive tantrums.  Parent have to say ‘no’ to some things and unfortunately, sometimes children don’t take this well and this can lead to manipulative or demand tantrums. Briefly acknowledge your child’s feelings, but be quick to ignore it thereafter to avoid reinforcing their behaviour by rewarding them with attention. Carry on with your activities as before after you let them know that the both of you can discuss when they are calm.  However, disruptive tantrums, when the child is yelling, screaming, throwing things etc., are ones that you may want to take action quickly. One way to quell such a situation is to move your child to a quiet and boring place and insist that they stay there until they cool off and calm down.

Who can guess what the other types of tantrums are?  Send us some of your thoughts.

Written by Evelyn Gunn, Creative Writer and Blogger