Do you find yourself delaying going to the grocery store because you might have to bring your child with you? If your child is prone to having tantrums when you’re outside, it can be exhausting to experience it.
Many things can cause your child to have a tantrum while you’re outside trying to buy groceries for the week and there are ways for you to prevent that from happening.
Why A Tantrum May Happen
Tantrums are a normal part of your child’s development.
According to Cleveland Clinic, this happens as a child learns to become more independent.
A few causes why your tantrums happen includes:
- frustration
- wanting attention
- wanting something
- avoiding doing something
- hunger
- tiredness
A major cause of toddler temper tantrums is the conflict they feel.
They seek their own independence while still craving for your attention.
They also haven’t developed their own coping skills and emotional maturity to deal with strong emotions or disappointments.
Instead of verbally telling and explaining to you how they feel, they lash out.
How to Prevent a Tantrum
Raising Children Network shared a few ways you can try to make tantrums less likely to happen and that includes:
- help your child understand their emotions
- identify your child’s tantrum triggers like tiredness, hunger, worries, fears or overstimulation. Plan for these situations and avoid the triggers, you can try shopping after your child had their nap or meal
- when your child handles a difficult situation without a tantrum, encourage them to tune in to how it feels
- talk about emotions after a tantrum when your child is calm
- model positive reactions to stress
Other tips you can try that Cleveland Clinic suggests are:
1. Find a Distraction Before Tantrum Begins
If you sense a tantrum starting but it hasn’t become a full-blown outburst, try to distract your child.
Point out to something interesting or engage them in another activity.
2. Stay Calm
The last thing you want to do is lash out at them yourself.
If they’re starting their tantrum, don’t threaten, lecture or argue with them.
That would only makes the tantrum worse.
3. Ignore the Tantrum
They might throw a tantrum to gain your attention, reacting to it might give them the message that tantrums are the way to get what they want.
Ignoring them while they’re having a tantrum shows your child that a tantrum is unacceptable and that won’t get them what they want.
4. Give Choices
A step to take before anything is to give them choices.
Having choices would make your child feel like they are in control.
Do make sure that you’re okay with the choices you give them so that you don’t give them false hope.
Helping Kids Understand and Manage Their Emotions
The best way to prevent tantrums in the future is to teach kids to regulate and manage their emotions.
The American Psychological Association shared a few ways to help your kids regulate their emotions:
1. Start Early
Infants that are quick to react and hard to soothe are more likely to have trouble managing emotions when they get older.
Parents can start talking about feelings when their children are still babies.
Point out when a book or movie characters feel sad, happy, angry or worried.
2. Connect
Studies have shown that children who have a secure, trusting relationship with their parents or caregivers have better emotion regulation as toddlers.
Be consistent with and comfort your child when needed to help you develop a secure attachment with them.
3. Talk and Teach
Teach your kids to recognise and name their emotions.
However, don’t try having that kind of conversation while they are upset.
Find opportunities to talk about feelings and strategies for managing them.
It won’t work the first time, so be sure to have these kind of talks consistently.
4. Model Those Good Behaviours
Parents are a child’s first educators.
They act with what they see.
Research has shown that children learn by modeling what their parents are doing.
5. Punish Less, Praise More
It might be tempting for you to give out consequences for bad behaviour.
However, strict punishments would make the behaviour worse, not better.
You should spend more time focusing on positive attention, praise and rewards for good behaviour.
If your child screams when you don’t want to buy them toys from the store, don’t punish them for the outburst.
Instead, what you can do is offer lots of praise and possibly a small reward when they react without a tantrum.
Accept That This Takes Time
To teach kids to regulate their emotions, you must first learn to regulate your own emotions.
Don’t make things harder by lashing it out on them when a tantrum happens.
Tantrums are normal for kids and sometimes, it takes time for them to learn how to manage their complicated emotions.
Keep teaching them about managing emotions if you want to make sure you go to your next grocery store trip, stress and tantrum free.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice from Motherhood. For any health-related concerns, it is advisable to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or medical practitioner.
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