He cries and whines, but he's usually pretty relaxed and I've been able to handle his tantrums quite well.
But this scream pierced my ears and made me jump, and I guess I must have made quite a reaction, because he did it again. And again. And again.
Now he screams every time he is frustrated, and I don't know if I can handle it. This screaming actually resulted his first-ever spanking ... something I'm not against, but didn't ever think I would actually do. This spanking was returned with a clench-fisted, red-faced scream right in my face, and I decided right then and there that spanking would get me nowhere.
So I'm continuing with time outs, but that doens't seem to do much. The only thing that helps is when you talk to him enough to get him to say what he wants ... but I don't want him thinking that if he screams enough he'll get all the attentiont he needs ...
Ugh. Toddlers are 1.5 thousand times harder than babies. And as his mother, I have to find a way to help him learn and grow into a good, worthy human being! This is proving slightly more difficult than I imagined.
Good thing I still love him.
Allie, I don't know about you but suddenly I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by Boston's tantrums. It's like this week he decided to take it up a notch (and right before we have to fly...eeek!) Anyway, if you find something that seems to work well, let me know!
ReplyDeleteOkay-I'm with you! Toddlers are infinitely harder than babies. At least mine is! He cries WAY more now than he ever did as a baby. I really try not to give in and to stand firm when he screams for something...but what about when you're in public? Or when they're about to do something drastic or dangerous? Ugh. This is tough.
ReplyDeleteI think the real trouble is that babies cry because they need something. And toddlers? Why do they scream? Half the time I have no idea! One thing is certain, if he keeps this up very long, I ... I ... I just don't want it to.
ReplyDeleteTry ignoring him. When Kyle started with tantrums, that's what my pediatrician recommended. It was hard for the first 2 days. He would follow me around and continue tantruming. But I just kept walking away and ignoring him. Pretty soon....no more tantrums. And that's for real. He was only throwing them to get attention. He got no attention and I made an extra priority to praise him when he was being good and quiet and playing by himself. Then I only use timeouts for a handful of very specific things. That way it doesn't get redundant. Good luck!
ReplyDelete