13 Month Old Daughter Is a Tantrum Nightmare!

My son went through the same thing at that age....even earlier, actually. I was surprised that tantrums would begin that early, but the pediatrician assured me it was normal. With my son, the only thing that would work at that age was ignoring it. He could not be comforted and if I touched him, it only made him madder! So I would either ignore him, and pretend to be super involved in some other activity nearby (such as reading his books or playing with his toys....sometimes that would actually snap him out of it and lure him over to play!) OR, most of the time what I had to resort to was putting him in his crib and leaving the room. When he realized his tantrum was not getting him any attention or interaction whatsoever, it would stop. I would go in as soon as I heard him calming down and start talking with him and smiling like nothing happened. Then suddenly he would forget he was upset and we would get on with our day! Good luck!

She's strong willed and passionate. This will be a good quality when she's older. 4 of my 5 children were like this and they are older and boy are they motivated and very successful. =) We're still training my 19 month old and the thing that works the best is a couple swats, and a time out in his crib. I do 2 swats and 2 minute time outs. It is the ONLY thing that works. I say Don't Scream etc. and after the time out, I explain why he got in trouble and have him say sorry (which is usually a hug) and we're on our way. His attitude totally changes and he's happy and plays well. We're consistent 100% because if I let it go, he turns into a nightmare really fast. It takes time but it's very effective. If she's old enough to rebel and demand her way, she's old enough for firm discipline. Probably at 13 months, I'd just do a 1 minute time out in her crib. Hang in there and good luck!

My son did the same thing. One thing I quickly learned was NOT to touch him unless I HAD to. Touching him just seent him through the roof AND got me hit, bit or scratched so unless there's a safety issue let her throw her fit where she's at.

The best thing to do in my experience is nothing! Crank up your MP3 player and ignore her until she gets it out of her system!

i agree with the other moms, don't touch her and ignore her. My son went through a phase like that when he was terrible two! eventually i gave up....sat on the couch, pretended to read a book while he did it....would look at him and be a bit of a smartass and say things like "you done yet?" or "how's that tantrum working out"? one time i had friends over and he started....i said in an excited voice "oooh honey, make it a good one, they haven't seen this side of you yet" he literally stopped....glared at me, and stomped off to his room!

Been there!

There were days that I would let her just lay on the floor and go at it, as long as she wasn't going to hurt herself. I would calmly say her name and ask off the wall questions, 'have you looked outside?', 'want some juice?', 'man i need some chocolate!', until one catches her attention.

A second trick is to have someone go and get a drink of juice or a snack (cheese stick, nugget, graham cracker). I found that when my kids sugar level got low that these spells were more frequent. Esp. when it was time for a growth spurt.

A third trick is to either join her in the tantrum or start lightly laughing. Either should get her to stop long enough to lose momentum.

Have you noticed a pattern? Meaning does she act this way after she eats something, after receiving her shot (immunization), has been around someone, or maybe she is tired?

If no, my thoughts are one of several things: she may be lacking in certain minerals and vitamins and her body is out of balance, it is for attention, or there is something serious going on and she needs to see a pediatric psychologist. This is not to imply anything negative about your daughter. Many people I know have received therapy and it has been successful. I realize she is little, but do you want her to continue this behavior?

Getting advice from moms is always comforting, but you have to make the decision that is best for your daughter.

This advice does come from the heart.

Many blessings.

Don't know what to tell you. Sounds like you are describing my daughter. While she definitely had great moments, she was not an easy baby at all. As soon as she started walking, about 1 1/2 weeks after her 1st birthday, she started throwing major tantrums over just about everything. What made it worse is that my mother inlaw used to keep our daughter during the day and she couldn't stand for my daughter to get upset. My mother inlaw always freaked out when my daughter would throw a tantrum because she would hold her breath and turn purple. She never did pass out, but our doctor said not to worry if she did because she would automatically start breathing again.

Anyway, my daughter is 5 years old now and is still very, very strong willed. She just started kindergarten this year and we were having some behavioral issues at first but she finally seems to be coming around and doing better. It's so frustrating at times but as Jaimee K. said, I'm optimistic and hope that these qualities will be positive ones as she gets older.