Parenting Toddlers (1-3) Support Group
This community is focused on the joys, challenges and concerns faced by parents of toddlers (1 to 3 year olds). The major areas of child development include: physical development, perception and sensory development, communication and language development, cognitive development, emotional development and social development. Join to share your stories and get advice.
Hello ladies, my son will be 10 months in a couple of days and about a month ago he strted having major tantrums. He'll do this wherever we are and even for the smallest things. If I take something away that he's not supposed to be touching he'll start screaming and throw himself on the floor. Usually I walk away and this does the trick. But it seems its becoming more and more often, in restaurants he doesn't want to sit in the high chair, at the mall he wants to climb out of the stroller, when he gets mad he'll throw whatever he's holding, etc. Is anyone else having this issue? If so, what did you do? Is it the age?? Or maybe early terrible 2's??
Prevention is the best key to avoiding tantrums. If there are certain things that you don't want him touching, keep them where he cannot reach them. I use kids gates to control what my daughter can get to.
We have a massive collection of dvds that she loves to pull down and line up on the floor. Sometimes she will open up the cases and play with the discs. I moved them all near our front door and cut off the area with a child gate so she can't reach them. If she is really having a fit over not being able to play with them (she loves the many pictures and colors of the covers), I will let her into the area every so often and supervise her closely while she explores. She's now got the idea that she is not supposed to be in the area unless I am there with her.
If its not an appropriate time and your child wants something, distract him with something that he really likes. He will be too busy playing with something that he IS allowed to play with to notice that you've taken him away from whatever trouble he was into.
Just my opinion, but when being in public with him, he is probably overstimulated and that is enough to make anyone cranky. Overstimulation is not only a problem with infants- it does carry over into the toddler years. To add into the mix, he is also at the age where he can't stand still for very long. If you could, sacrifice a few months of eating out (maybe get take-away and eat it at home instead?) until he settles down a bit. That phase did not last very long with my daughter. I know it might be an inconvenience for you, but going out of the way to make a child comfortable will pay off in the long run. You'll end up with a calmer and more relaxed child. :o)