How to handle your Child's Tantrum

How do I handle my child during a tantrum? The quick answer is: IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE!!! Attention is tantrum food. Stay calm and restrain them from hurting themselves or others. No eye contact, no dialogue, no anger. Walk around the house going about your business as per usual. Peel them off your legs if necessary but look away as you do so. Don't punish a tantrum as it's just an expression of feelings, of not getting their own way. Even a very tired child who tantrums is doing so because life isn't going the way they want it and they're quick to get angry. Children who have tantrums turn into adults with a temper, it's the same trait. It's okay to have a temper, it's how it's dealt with that counts. You can punish a naughty behaviour that happened before or during the tantrum, e.g., they throw the remote at the TV and broke it while having the tantrum. All consequences are handed out AFTER the tantrum. Never deal with a child in the heat of the moment. If you're new to this and your child is confused and perhaps even a bit scared by your new behaviour of ignoring, tell them they have to calm down first, then you'll talk to them. Lisa Bunnage, Parenting Coach

You can listen to How to handle your Child's Tantrum online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

How to handle your Child's Tantrum is an episode from Parenting like a Leader by Lisa Bunnage.

This episode is 12:10 long.

This episode was published on Sep 4, 2018.

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