Hello…
My husband and my parenting style would probably be most simmilar to Attachment Parenting. This has worked out incredibley well for us thus far… BUT we are now entering the stage where tantrums are more frequent. It may sound silly, but up until a few months ago I could look at my daughter when she was her emotions were out of proportion with the situation and say, “This is unacceptable. You need to stop.” And for the most part, she would! But this is not working so smoothly anymore. How do I difuse situations like screaming, back arching, throwing the body about just because I need her to get into the cart at Target? Please let me know what has worked for you all!
Thanks so much!
Have you tried teaching her sign language?
Yes… she has over 100 signs in her vocabulary. And I whole-heartedly believe it has given us immeasurable help in stopping tantrums that would occur due to lack of communication. She is an incredibley strong-willed child and can be single-minded in her desires so distracting her in situations like getting into the cart at the store when she does not want to can be very challenging.
Ok, I might be able to help. I have rented Happiest Toddler on the Block DVD by Dr. Harvey Karp. I found it useful. My little guy doesn’t like to take naps, so he’s sometimes irritable/easily angered & throws tantrums. Well, Dr. Harper suggests many things and one that I’ve used is speaking Toddlerese, meaning you speak like he does right back at him 3-5 times until he knows that you know why he’s upset and then he calms down and listens to you.
This has actually worked. It works even better the more you sound like him, for example if your toddler starts crying because he wants to tap on the TV, you say, “I know you want to tap on the tv, I know, I know, (repeat)” then when he calms down, you say but you can’t because it’s not safe. Thats it. Rent the DVD, it’s worth watching!
this is works!i haven’t seen the dvd though but i used to sound like my son when im trying to repremand him and he will be delighted to hear that mom is speaking the same language! :wub: although hubby does not approve of me doing such bec he feels im "babying "our son more and he wnts him to be strong boy and not girlish
Wow! I am so excited! I can not wait to get the Happiest Toddler on the Block DVD!
Thank you all for your guidance! I will let you know how it goes!!!