Does your child bite, cry unnecessarily, throw objects, hit you or headbangs, then this could be Temper Tantrum.
So what is a temper tantrum ?
Temper tantrum is basically a kind of disruptive behavior which usually happens in children between the age of 18 months to 3 years .Some children might be more prone than others for this.
Why does it happen ?
Children in this age want to develop autonomy and show negativity, that is they want to do things opposite to what you say or want them to do and when they are not allowed to do this they show frustration and become angry. It usually peaks at 2nd to 3rd year of life and it subsides by 3 to 6 years of age.As mentioned earlier it manifests in physical disruptive behavior.
How to manage?
So first of all for parents they should list the situations in which the child shows tantrums and shows disruptive behavior. For example before going for a shopping mall trip a child should be given a good amount to sleep and be fed properly. Parents should be calm and firm when the child shows such behavior and should never give in to the demands otherwise this will lead to repeat and most severe tantrums.
What to do during an attack?
Most important is to avoid injury both to the child as well as to others.
In the early stage one could try diverting the attention of the child. If this does not work out then Time out is useful. In this we take the child to a safe place and make the child stay alone and the duration of this is one minute for each year. For example if your child is two years of age it should be two minutes and for a child of three years it should be three minutes and the maximum should be five minutes.
This will teach the child how to self control his behavior and he will learn that his behavior is not acceptable. When the child will come out you have to welcome back the child either by hugging or saying affectionate words.
I hope this article helps you in dealing with temper tantrums. Thank you.