Questions tagged [tantrums]
Tantrums are emotional outbursts beyond simple crying, found commonly in stressed persons but mostly small children. In parenting, tantrums may relate mostly to toddlers but also apply to other age groups. Questions may be in regards to coping with, deescalating, preventing, or controlling tantrums.
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How can you deal with tantrums without spanking?
My son just turned 2, and he started throwing more tantrums on us.
He doesn't eat well or drink enough milk ... and he is becoming more adamant and says "No" more often. If we force him to drink milk,...
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How do I calm a frustrated 6-year-old?
When our 6-year-old daughter is trying something new and hard (homework, reading a hard word, video games, etc.) she can get into a cycle of frustration and anger that ends with her crying in a ball ...
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Is it possible to spoil a child, but still teach them not to behave spoiled?
My 9-year-old stepson has terrible tantrums. I was abused as a child and used to act out as a result. Teachers and other adults were very hostile to me and failed to recognize my cries for help. So ...
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How to help a child accept when an activity is over
My five-year-old really struggles with moving from one activity task to another.
For example, we tell him we will only do a certain activity for x amount of time and then be done. It doesn't matter ...
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12 year old with major tantrums that I have no idea how to control help needed
I have a 12 year old daughter who is having screaming, door slamming, hour-long rages at the slightest thing.
I also have 2 older daughters, aged 17 and 18, who never did this after they were 2 and ...
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Does good cop/bad cop work with children?
My wife and I have descended into the toddler years with our first. Along with that, she is getting that classic toddler attitude. We understand it's a growing phase and tantrums and outbursts are ...
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3 year old tantrums in public
Yesterday we (wife, 3 year old son, 6 year old daughter, me) were at a mall. After we stepped off the moving pavement my son decided that he wants to go another direction, and pulled his hand out of ...
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Why does my son behave better when he's alone with one parent than with both?
Whenever I'm alone with my son, we play, have fun, and he even plays alone with his toys for a long time; this also happens when my wife is alone with him.
However, when we are both present, he ...
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Does a child need to apologize and how should I react while it does not?
Our son is 6 years old and often quite "bullheaded". If something does not go the way he wants, he is very frustrated and quickly shows a tantrum, cries, screams and insults us.
We then send him to ...
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3.5yr old pre-schooler cannot deal with frustration
Our 3.5 yr old (will be 4 in July) son has a real difficulty handling frustration to the point that it is driving me and my wife insane. Hardly a day goes by where we don't both end up in tears, ...
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How to react to an indecisive 2.5-year-old?
I have a 2.5-year-old son. It happens mostly when tired but I'll ask him if he wants something and he will say no. Then when I go to put it away or do something else, he freaks out that he wants it. ...
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Strategies to reduce computer game interest
We have a moderately strict rule about electronics time at the house -- as long as their homework, chores, or other responsibilities are finished, each kid gets to play a computer or video game for an ...
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Any advice on how to react to my 4 year old who gets hysterical instead of solving her "problem"?
My four year old daughter has had this issue recently where if anything goes "wrong" she completely loses it. I put "wrong" in quotes because its the slightest thing and, in particular, its ...
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How can I keep my toddler from scratching himself when he is upset?
Whenever my toddler gets very upset or throws a fit, he has a tendency to rake his fingernails very hard across his face, often drawing blood. Currently one side of his face is covered with scratches ...
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How to control tantrums when neigbors don't let the kid "cry it out"?
Little children (say two/three year olds) frequently have tantrums (I want my ... and I want it NOW!!). Normally, one would let him cry a little, then when he calms down explain why you can't give him ...
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How to help a 3-year-old with vicious temper to express his emotions in a healthy way?
My three year old boy (the middle of three boys; older brother is 9, younger brother is almost 2) is smoldering with anger pretty often. He flies off the handle at little things. I've dealt with a ...
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How to deal with a child in an "I can't" phase?
A 3 1/2 year old child has entered an "I can't" phase. He says "he can't" about things he really can do. It becomes hard to detect when to help or not help, because you're supposed to help children ...
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Can temper tantrums indicate a behavior problem?
I understand that temper tantrums are relatively normal for many children.
However, some children seem to have far more temper tantrums than other children their age, and others far fewer.
Can ...
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How to handle my 9-year-old's uncontrollable raging fits?
We have four kids: a 9-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy and a 20-month-old girl.
The 9-year-old boy is in general a delightful, well-behaved, kind and considerate boy. Sometimes he ...
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My wild 3.5-year-old - have I missed out on the key years of relationship-building and discipline?
I have a 3.5-year-old son. He's bright and energetic, but I'm worried about his behavior, since it seems out of control.
He was walking at 7 months. His language has always been good - he knew his ...
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What are some possible ways to deal with night-time tantrums
My daughter, who is coming up for 3 years old has never been a good sleeper. She regularly wakes during the night, sometimes up to 3 or 4 times but more commonly once or twice.
More often than not ...
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How to teach my son that winning is not everything and to lose graciously? My son cries when he loses and quits playing the game
My 5-year-old son cries when he loses a game. He gets impatient and throws tantrums and beats me when he loses. The same thing happens when he plays with his friends also.
I have tried to teach him by ...
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How do I get a young toddler to walk holding my hand?
Baby boy is just 12 months, but walks really well and prefers to walk. When we are at the grocery store or somewhere we need to go from Point A to Point B, sometimes he doesn't want to go where I ...
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Should we change a wet diaper and risk triggering a night tantrum or leave our son be?
Our 2-year old son is going through a rough period - we have cut his breastfeeding to once daily (before bed) and his sleep pattern is changing and is therefore unpredictable. Lately, he will often ...
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How to deal with tantrums in an 8-year-old child?
We have three boys aged 4, 8 and 10. The youngest and eldest seem to be fine and no issues, but the middle child is quite willful and having tantrums. It's like he never quite grew out of the terrible ...
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Allowing freedom of choice to toddler/preschooler isn't working, what next?
I've read a lot about giving children the freedom to choose between acceptable choices, to make them feel like they have some control over things and hence reduce tantrums. And I was pretty convinced ...
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How do you deal with a spoiled niece?
My 8 year old niece (actually my cousin's daughter) is really quite spoiled. Her parents constantly bribe her to get her to do what they want.
We sometimes take vacations together. On these ...
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4-year-old screaming at every occasion
We are a family of four, my wife currently attends teacher education which in relatively time consuming. Our two sons of 6 and 4-1/2 years are at the kindergarten in the morning and I care for them ...
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How can I stop my 5-year-old's violent tantrums?
I am a single mom to a very good 5-year-old little boy ... 90% of the time. About once a week, give or take, he has a meltdown and becomes violent (hitting, scratching, biting, throwing things, etc.). ...
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How do you prepare for the "terrible twos"?
I keep hearing about how bad things get once a child enters the "terrible twos". I know quite a few parents who claim that the age is just a natural time for frequent temper tantrums, and non-stop ...
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What to do about my toddler wanting everything her way?
We have a 2.5-year-old daughter and we're fighting over everything. Literally everything.
When she is alone with someone she is good most of the time, however when there are two of us with her, she ...
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What's the best way to deal with a toddler who cries/paddies when she doesn't get her own way?
I have non-identical twin girls, 22 months old. One of them will cry when she doesn't get her own way and she'll do it fairly quickly even if she is in a good mood.
For example, if she wants a ...
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How do I teach my child to express his frustration?
My son is two and testing his boundaries. In general, I'm comfortable with that and have no problem with him getting frustrated when he's not allowed to do something. Unfortunately, his normal mode ...
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What's an effective way to deal with toddler transition tantrums ("I don't want to stop yet?")
This isn't a question about what general incentives or methods of discipline work best.
I'm looking for techniques specific to transitions, like when it's time to stop playing and go somewhere, etc. ...
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How can I help my 14-year-old daughter be less angry?
My daughter is 14. She is usually very good and not hard to cope with, but sometimes she gets very angry.
For example, when I take away her phone, or her sisters use her belongings, or she can't do ...
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How to help 3-year-old son not immediately start whining/throwing fit
I want to start out saying that I realize there is nothing unusual about my son's behavior as I'm about to describe, especially considering the situation (new baby). I am just wondering what, if ...
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How to stop my 4-year-old from having tantrums at preschool?
My 4-, soon to be 5-, year-old daughter has temper tantrums at preschool. She does not have them for me and has not had them for me for the past couple of years. I never fed her temper tantrums. It ...
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What to do about my toddler who suddenly started screaming when I mention bathing or give her a bath?
I have an 18-month-old daughter. She loved having a bath from birth, and now all of a sudden she screams her head off when I mention bath or give her a bath. It's really stressing me out. I don't know ...
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Where can I get help for my 13-year-old daughter whose tantrums get physical?
I have a 13-year-old daughter. She has had a tantrum tonight after her and her sister got in a little argument. My 13-year-old daughter got to the point where she got physical with my other daughter. ...
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How to stop our 2-year-old's bedtime tantrums and make her sleep through the night?
Our daughter is approaching 2 and has consistently had issues with bedtime.
At the mention of bedtime, she will regularly start crying (but still follows me upstairs to bed). In general, one of us ...
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My 3-year-old screams and smashes his forehead on the floor when he doesn't get what he wants. How can I stop this?
Every few days, my little guy won't get his way on something trivial and decides to throw a fit. He lets out a piercing scream, drops flat, then deliberately smashes his forehead on the floor as hard ...
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My 1-year-old freaks out on her father
So we have a beautiful one-year-old daughter and she has always been a daddy‘s girl up until about a week ago. She started freaking out anytime her dad will go to hold her, change her, or even trying ...
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What to do about my 3.5-year-old daughter's tantrums, which have worsened?
My daughter has not really had many full-blown tantrums when she was younger, ever. But now at 3.5 years old, almost 4 years old (on 8/27). She has been having the worst tantrums ever. First, she used ...
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How do I deal with my out of control 3-year-old?
My son will be 4 in a month, and he is very aggressive toward his brothers. He hits, kicks, bites them and takes their toys. He screams at my 1-year-old constantly when he touches anything or ...
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How can I encourage my toddler to walk and not be carried?
My 2½ year-old is a very capable walker, but often he decides he just doesn't want to do it.
Usually, when we go out, he goes in the push-chair. But sometimes he wriggles and screams until we are ...
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How can we avoid tantrums over sweets and cakes?
From the moment he wakes to the moment he falls asleep my toddler barely ever stops asking for "chocolate", "sweeties" or "cakes".
He frequently doesn't eat his meals well, but we are fairly strict ...
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How to keep a 21-month-old safe, who has learned how to climb out of his crib when angry?
My 21-month-old grandson lives with his Daddy, Nana, and me, Grandma. In the last 3 weeks he has started having temper tantrums. We used to put him in his Pack-n-Play, or crib for time out, but he ...
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Is it wrong for a parent to partake in screaming/dominating competitions with their kids?
I'm not the parent and I don't have any kids, so this is just based on what I observe.
There's this mother who, when her daughter (about 3 years old) starts crying and making a fuss, she'll lose her ...
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5-year-old tantrums and misbehavior - what am I doing wrong?
My two boys are 4-years-old and 11 months; they will be 5 and 1 next month.
My oldest is exceedingly stubborn, and he's displaying strong leadership traits. When he has his mind set on something, his ...
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3-year-old acts out for parents, but not for nanny
My wife and I are having trouble with our 2.5/3-year-old daughter. We have a newborn (1 month old) that we believe is the reason. We are guessing she is jealous of the attention that her new baby ...