2 Year Old Tantrums

I remember those days. In fact, I remember when my then-two year old threw himself onto the ground in the middle of a parking lot while it was raining and I was carrying an armload of dry cleaning. He was shrieking like a banshee. All I did was pick him up and move him to the sidewalk. Then I set him down and stood there watching him. I could have taken him back to the car, but that would have rewarded his tantrum so I was bound and determined to take my husband's uniforms into the cleaner no matter how long it took.

I stood there for a good five minutes. (And it felt like twice as long.) I had people approach and ask me if they could "help." I covered my extreme embarassment by politely and calmly saying, "No thank you. We're fine." I didn't threaten to walk away from my son. I actually didn't say a word to my son. I just stood there patiently and waited for him to shriek himself out. When he did, I calmly asked if he was ready to take Daddy's clothes into the cleaner. He shrieked "NO!" at the top of his lungs and began yelling like a banshee again. I just stood there waiting patiently again amd wondered if anyone had called the police or child protective services. :) Fortunately, no one had and my son quickly figured out that Mama wasn't going to cave in. He stood up and we walked into the dry cleaners like nothing had happened. Darn kid!

With my little guy, I tried to schedule errands during times he was not over-tired or hungry. I also kept in mind the fact that he didn't have alot of stamina or tolerance for a long day of errands.

I'm a big believer in facing the embarassment head on. Sure there are going to be people (who have never had kids) who will look at you like you're a terrible mother, but almost everyone will be looking at you with sympathy while thinking "thank goodness my kids are past that stage!) As long as you are calm and are keeping your daughter from hurting herself, let Amelia have a fit or a meltdown. Don't cave in. Don't reward her bad behavior because if you cave in while you're in public she will quickly figure out how to push your buttons! But if you don't reward her for tantrums, she'll stop having them.

Just remember: You are not alone. Your daughter is not a brat. She's just TWO. You have no reason to be embarassed when she has a meltdown! (Unless she's still doing it when she's six!) And every other parent has been there at some point and they're staring at you because they're glad they don't have a two year old! (In another year, I will have TWO boys turning two. And I am NOT looking forward to those testing tantrums!)

Almost all 2 year olds have tantrums, they haven't learned how to control their emotions yet. We took our 2 year old on a trip and foolishly scheduled the flight for very early in the morning. He'll fall asleep on the plane, right?! Well he did, eventually. But first he had a complete meltdown waiting to board the plane, threw himself on the floor, kicked, and screamed. All the other passengers were staring at us and totally dreading, I'm sure, getting on the plane with my screaming brat! LOL! It was totally what you would image being a classic scenario of a toddler on a plane. Anyway, we lived through it and you will too!

It is very normal for that age. Never give in to the fit and give them absolutly no attention when they do it. Make sure the child is safe and leave the store but do not look at your child or comment on the tantrum. If you react with any attention, wether positive or negative, they will continue to do it.
My daughter is two and very emotional and when she started with the fits I would make sure she was safe and out of the way and completely ignore her. When she was done I would tell her that I know she was upset but if she screams and cries she will not get what she wants! She hardly ever has a fit now. And if it happens when we are at home I ask her if she would like to go in the other room and have time to herself and she usually goes and in less then 2 mins she is over it and comes back.

My two year old is tempermental as well. :) I usually pack snacks in my purse and give them to her so she is too busy eating that she won't throw a fit. If we are shopping and she wants to buy something, we simply tell her we'll put it on her "list" and she's okay with that. Now she asks to put it on her list instead of asking me to buy it. I keep a mental note of some of the things she's interested in and buy some things for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc.

Congrats on #2. I just had #2 and my little girl LOVES being a big sister -- we've had NO jealousy issues :)

I have very emotional kids. Especially my 5 year old. She is SOMETHING! The way I usually deal with tantrums is to "extinguish" the behaviour by completely ignoring the child (even stepping over her) when she is having a tantrum. Sometimes I will pick them up and move them to get them out of harm's way, or put them in their room.

However, in the stores, I IMMEDIATELY leave. I will not stay in the store making myself and the fellow shoppers extremely uncomfortable by having that happen. No one likes it when a child has a temper tantrum in front of them. Yes, I've left stores many times just because my children were acting up. There has never been anything I needed so badly that I needed to stick around. Dinner plans were changed, clothing was purchased on another day, etc.

Hope this helps.

First of all Congratulations on baby #2!!! Second, you are definitely not alone! I spend most of my days dealing with my toddler (2 1/2) throwing fits for anything and everything! She loves to help clean, and when she does something it has to be done her way!! I have 4 children and the older 2 (9 & 7) still throw fits at the store, sometimes I will take them all back out to the car, but if I have to get something I stay and tough it out! Luckily the baby is 7mos and has been good so far!! We too have to have them fed before we go or bring snacks and drinks to help curb the fussiness, we've even rewarded them after the trips with treats (little toys,candy,ect.)for being good! GL

When your child is throwing a fit don't give them whatever they are throwing a fit about. No matter what... they will learn.

My son did that a few times and we would just up and leave. There were even a few times I left a full cart of groceries. But it was worth it cuz he only did it a few times and then seemed to get the hint. Especially if it was for something he wanted.