Temper tantrums are inevitable and are part of every child’s growth and development. If your child is between the ages of 1-3 you are most likely to have experienced them at some point or you may be struggling with them at the moment. If so, don’t worry we are here to help! Here are 5 of our top tips to help you the next time a temper tantrum arises.
Some children may not like transition times very much, if a child is asked to do something and they don’t necessary want to do it you might find that a temper tantrum could arise. There are some preventative measures that you can take to avoid this and the main thing to consider is a solid and structured routine. Routines are vital for our children, when a structured routine is established children are naturally conditioned to what is about to come next so therefore the next time you ask them to do something you will be more likely to be met with more compliance.
Another thing you can do to prevent a problem from starting is to give your child a warning a few minutes beforehand. By doing this, your child is even more prepared for what is about to come instead of just stopping their activity suddenly.
Our little children experience big emotions and they have yet to learn how to really deal with the emotions that they feel. Understand that it is completely normal for your child to get overwhelmed at small things for example; something being removed from them or you saying ‘no’ to something. Try to stay calm and acknowledge your child’s feelings, you can try saying “I understand your upset but I removed the toy because…” It’s important you stay calm in order for your child to feel secure, if your stressed it won’t help your child to calm down, if you get angry as well it will only make the situation worse.
If your child is particularly upset, sometimes you just need to wait it out. Make sure that your child is safe from any potential risks and say to them “ok, I’m giving you some time to calm down” and simply walk away. Stay close by, give them a few minutes and then return. Once you see they are starting to calm down you can go and talk to them. Speak to your child about how they feel and see if they can identify what made them feel this way. This is a good opportunity to talk to them about ways in which they can calm down if they start to feel angry. Some examples could be; taking a deep breath, counting to 5 or 10 or coming to talk to you about what happened so that you can help. If your child is a bit younger you can try some visual cards or books which talk about our feelings and emotions or some sensory toys such as a stress ball or a sensory jar to help them to calm down.
Temper tantrums are a display of an overload of internal feelings and emotions that your child has not yet learned how to deal with, and although it may seem like it is – it’s not really their fault. There is an unconditional love between you and your child and some children just need a hug from you or somebody close to them to help them to calm down and regulate their feelings.
In order to prevent the same issue from developing the next time somebody takes their toy then it is important that you teach them the skills they need to deal with it. In this instance teaching your child essential sharing and turn taking skills through play can help, for example, co-operative games such as rolling a ball back and forth or taking turns in playing with your child’s favourite toy. It may take some times but try and be consistent, you are setting your child up for future success.
Our dedicated staff at the Little Dreamers Nursery are highly trained in dealing with such instances and are always around to help with our top tips and advice.
Should you require any additional support, please feel free to contact us at The Little Dreamers Nursery ([email protected]). We are always happy to help!
Twitter
Add a Comment
Please do not post:
Thank you once again for doing your part to keep Edarabia the most trusted education source.