How to Diffuse a Temper Tantrum

If you haven’t experienced this, you will soon enough. All children, especially toddlers and teenagers, will have at least one temper tantrum in their lifetime (if you’re lucky). For parents, it can be a frustrating time, but you are not without help. Here are some tips to keep the tempers cool.

What Is a Temper Tantrum?

If you didn’t know better, you’d probably guess that your child was having a seizure of sorts. Some scream, wail, flail and jump around. Others may pout and stomp all over the house. However your child displays it, a temper tantrum is unmistakable.

It is performed usually in response to the answer “no.” When kids don’t get their way, they can act out. The earliest act is often the tantrum. Through this method, they can test the boundaries of their influence over their parents’ behavior. How you handle it will determine if it is effective.

Cooling the Fires of a Tantrum

Throw your arms around them – They won’t be expecting that. A big bear hug catches then off guard and may have them warming to you. Then ask them what’s wrong. This encourages their honesty and a more effective solution to their problem than stomping and screaming.

Watch them – Why are they throwing such a fit? Did they just come in from school and need to blow off some steam? Maybe they are restless and sleepy? See if you can find the origin of the tantrum before jumping to conclusions.

Avoid giving in – If you give in to their demands, then they will know that they can get anything they want by throwing a hissy fit. Whatever you do, if the answer you gave was “no” then stick with it.

Ignore them – Some people think this is cruel, but your child may just want attention. If it has worked in the past, they will try it again. Keep an eye on them so they don’t hurt themselves or anyone else, but don’t say a word to them. Eventually they will get tired of being ignored and stop. Just make sure that your patience and nerve can outlast them.

Meet their real need – If your child has had a busy day, put them to bed early. Proceed with the evening routine ahead of time so they can get to bed and rest. Feed your child dinner if you notice that they might be hungry. It is not a crime to sit down to a meal earlier if it will help your child to calm down.

Change the subject – Instead of giving in, find something new to talk about that might interest your child. Young ones have a short attention span and it may distract them from whatever they were fussing about.

Temper tantrums can be worrying to parents. Learning to deal with them can make them a lot easier to experience.

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