Top Tips for a Calm Toddler!
Parenting a toddler is hard. Gone is your warm snuggly immobile baby bundle and in its place is a wilful bundle of curious energy fighting for control and independence and causing frustration and embarrassment – particularly when they tantrum in public, in front of your friend and her perfect, non tantruming children and worst of all in the presence of your mother in law.
How do you cope with your toddler’s tantrums? Do you wish you knew more ways of coping with the ‘terrible twos’ (and ones and threes and fours!)?
Isn’t it funny – when we’re pregnant we go to antenatal classes and learn everything we can about labour and birth- but then when we need help the most – the toddler years – the classes all stop, save for the activity classes such as gym & music – what if there were classes and workshops that could help you to understand your toddler and their behaviour, the science behind it and most importantly of all – learn coping techniques that really work and are beneficial to the whole family?
This is what ToddlerCalmTM does. Naomi Newland offers unique toddler calming classes for parents of 1 to 4 year olds, helping parents to cope with toddler tantrums, picky eating and sleep problems all from only £35.
5 Ways to Cope with Toddler Tantrums:
- Understand what normal toddler behaviour is, the chances are your toddler is behaving perfectly normally for their age, yet knowing something is normal makes it a lot easier to deal with. At ToddlerCalmTM we believe it is important to understand how a toddler’s brain develops and what they are physically capable of doing and understanding.
- Try to see things from your toddler’s point of view. How might they be feeling? How were they feeling before the tantrum? During? After? Empathy for your toddler can be eye opening! Understand that your toddler is not manipulating you or winding you up – granted it feels like that sometimes but they really aren’t, their behaviour is their way of expressing their overwhelming feelings.
- Instead of ignoring your toddler during a tantrum try to comfort them, a tantrum is scary for them – they can’t control their emotions like we can, a big hug is often much more effective and positive in the long term than the usual ‘ignore it’ advice. Communicate at your toddler’s level, so you are at eye level with them and use simple words and short sentences.
- Describe the behaviour you want from your toddler e.g: “we use gentle hands” rather than what you don’t want e.g: “don’t hit people”. Your toddler’s brain processing works differently from yours, if you keep repeating “don’t do this” followed by the undesirable behaviour you may as well be telling your toddler to do it!
- 5. Give your toddler more choices e.g: lay out 3 different outfits and let them choose, it’s amazing how a bit of control can improve a toddler’s behaviour, after all they don’t have much control over any other aspect of their lives. Play can be wonderfully helpful at helping your toddler to feel in control of their world.
If you would like to learn more please visit
www.toddlercalming.com/teachers/naomi-newland
or email naomi@toddlercalm.co.uk
Workshops across Sussex
07717 842 448