7 Superb Tips to avoid Tantrums

Yesterday, i went to Supermarket with my son and the moment we entered the super mart , he started with his wish list. He wanted toys , chips and the minute, I refused to fall into his demands, and he totally LOST it !! He just screamed and threw himself to the floor. Nothing could calm him or soothe him . The Tantrums is more or less same at home as well.

This is the one of the prevalent Parenting issue. After reading and discussing it a lot with different parents & parenting experts, I have been able to control my child tantrums to a greater extent.

I would share 7 Superb Tips to prevent Tantrums :

Play way : Children loves to play and would understand the things more quickly if taught in play way. You can act like a little puppy and tell your child that if you would not drink milk then this little puppy would drink all your milk. In this way he would try to finish off his milk

Be positive :Always use positive words and portray positive behaviour.Instead of straightaway NO or don't do that. Use alternative sentence like if you trouble your little sister then she would cry and jumping on couch can hurt you.

Behaviour : Many times the main cause of Tantrums are hunger , tiredness, boredom. If you are able to predict from the behaviour of the child then its easy to attack the tantrums even before its start. Child would definitely throw more tantrums if he is hungry and you are shopping close to lunch time or dinner time

Act like child : Its good to be like a 3 year old with 3 year old. Do things differently paint your face or make moustache with dough, make funny faces and take out funny noises. This light environment would make it easy for the child to co operate more

Ready steady go : OK lets see who would reach the washroom first or who would brush his teeth first. These small games would excite the child and he would be enthusiastic enough to complete the task without any hassle

Warning : Transition is one of the biggest parenting issue. Its quite difficult for the child to leave his games or activity at-once . Try and make the process soft. Keep warning him like 5 minutes left for you to eat your food, 2 minutes and finally 1 minute. This would actually prepare him in advance and he would be ready for the meal

Story time : Story is one of favourite activity for the child. Express yourself or deliver the message through interactive stories. Like, once upon there was this boy, who became really big and strong by eating vegetables and drinking milk. Do you want to become strong like him?

As I always say, there is nothing right or wrong in parenting. However, just changing things a bit can help us to overcome the parenting issue. I am eager to know about your tantrum handling techniques.. All the best !!

My list is non ending and promise to come back again with another parenting issue.

Toddler,who doesnot like to sleep

Other biggest parenting issue that often comes in our way is " Sleeping habit of the Toddler". As a parent we make sure that the kid is in the bed at right time and doesn't keeping getting up the whole night. Lots of us have had a sleepless nights, where in we spend the entire night in soothing the child as he keeps getting up for different reasons.. either he needs drink in the night or he needs hug from the mum or he wants to sleep with dad and many more..

There are different ways to handle this parenting issue. Few of the influential advice that helped me a lot to tackle these parenting issues are :

• Over the period of time i have learnt that shouting at your child can never put him to sleep early. Child is at growing stage and goes through lots of changes and may not want to sleep sharp at 0700 in the evening. Therefore try and extend his sleeping time ,change it from 0700 to 0800 clock.
• Cut down on his afternoon nap or just reduce his duration of the afternoon nap as this would put him to sleep early in the night.
• Remember to complete all his little task before he goes to bed like make him drink water, take him to the washroom, read him a story , hug him and say - Goodnight & I love you
• Be prepared that he would get up in the night. As soon as he gets up and comes to your room. Don't speak to him or ask questions , simply take him back to his room and tell him that its time to sleep again give him a hug and say I love you.
• Repeat the same exercise if he gets up again , pacify him and tell him that its time to sleep
• One thing that as a parent you need to learn is to be firm with your child. Its good to give hugs and kisses but if your child has made it a habit of getting up every 2 hours time then after pacifying him for 2-3 times , be firm and tell him that its time to sleep and he is not supposed to come out of his bed till the sunrise.

No doubt, he would definitely trouble you for first 1 week but trust me if you follow this regime and make yourself strong then nothing is impossible. Try this and see the magic yourself. You and your toddler would be at ease and would have comfortable sleep the whole night..

I would come back again with another Parenting issue and the ways around it...till then Happy Parenting

Fussy Eater - Parenting Challenge

One day my son suddenly decided that he hates everything. He stopped eating at all and hates the sight of the food. His behaviour has become erratic wherein he like specific meal one day and believe me he dislike the same dish another day.

Does this happen with you as well ? Do you also feel that your toddler has suddenly become fussy eater? Do you start feeling anxious before the meal time?

This is one of the biggest parenting issues, wherein my son started giving me difficult time with the food. Gradually , I discovered that changing things here and there make a difference and he again started liking the food.

Here are few tips to cope up with a fussy Eater and to inculcate good eating habits in your child:

1) Vegetable shopping with Toddlers : Take the little one with you to the super mart and encourage him to pick up his favourite vegetables . Give him a little basket and even money (in case he is old enough ) to buy his own vegetables. This will give him sense of responsibility and pride. He would learn something new.

2) Preparing food with kids : Now , you can take help of your child for preparing food. If you are making gravy, ask the little one to add ingredients in the same. Make him sit next to you and give him cheese or some vegetable to cut with butter knife. This would help him to develop the co ordination and he would surely want to eat his own cooked food

3) Experimenting with variety of food : Toddlers are likely to accept new food after trying it for at least 8 - 10 times. I make sure that my son at least have one bite of everything that on the table. Positive attention and praise can actually do wonder

4) Less Junk Food : One thing that actually helped is to reduce intake of junk food. I have started keeping healthy nutrient food at my place. Now, whenever the child feels hungry he would binge over healthy snacks

5) Don't force your child : I know its quite difficult to maintain the temper and to convince your child to eat the food. However, never bribe your food. Don't tell your child that he would be given dessert if he finishes his food as this would in turn develop unhealthy habit of consuming sweets and fat food. Please don't pressurise your child to eat food. Let him take his decision on how much he wants to eat.

6) Shouting would make it more difficult : Eating habits can be quite stressful for both parents and children but please don't start getting angry. Angry discipline is always right . To remain calm and to make your child comfortable is the key. Remember, its meal time and everyone wants to enjoy it with happiness.

Trust me, I did make these few changes and now my son is quite better with his eating habits. He loves to go for food shopping and likes to cook with mummy.

Do not put stress on the food being served but let him understand the positive side of enjoying the mealtime as a family.

Let me know in-case you have the similar parenting issue ? If yes, then please let me know if these tips helped your little one..Till then happy Parenting !!

Selective Listening - Parenting issue

Another parenting issue that comes to my mind is selective listening of the toddler. I have noticed that lots of kids (including my son) at the age of 2-3 years doesn't believe in listening. They don't look into the eyes and just keep themselves restricted in their play area.

Do you also feel that toddlers are too busy in their own world that they completely refuses to listen to you.

To be honest, I have no issues with my son jumping on the sofa or throwing cushions around but my endeavor is to explain him as why he should not leave his mum in the market or why he should wash his hands after coming from the park or why he should share his toys ?

Even though he doesn't look into my eyes but he fully understands and hears me

Thanks to the advice of the elders and experince of my friends that has helped me in handling this challenge.

Golden Tips : I am sharing few golden tips with all of you as well.

• Communication with the little one is the most effective and the most powerful weapon
• I have learnt the art of positive communication so now instead of telling him that he should not jump on the sofa or he should not leave mum hand in the market, I have started giving him the consequence of his actions i.e Jumping will break the sofa, you will get lost if you leave mum in the market, washing hand will help you to stay clean and healthy
• Face to face and interaction at the same level has done wonders.
• I also keeps prompting and keep reminding him at regular intervals
• Another trick is to ask him questions like - why you should wash your hands after coming from park or why should not you leave mum's hand in the market? This questioning technique actually helps him to relate to the conversation and this is when he would start relaying the information back to you.

Try this effective and structured way of communication with your toddler and let me know what happened ?

I am sure this time he would not only listen to you but also would be able to give you the reason behind the action.. I know that it would take some time but trust me, one to one interaction can actually make your child assertive and confident.

I would be more than happy to know about another challenging parenting issue that you face in your day to day routine. Till then happy Parenting !!

See you at the same blog with more parenting issues..

Parenting issue - How to teach the concept of Sharing ?

Share, Please share with your friend !! Does this ring bell in your mind? Is this what you keep telling your toddler to do with other kids in the park or at your place..

Parenting Issue:

As a first time mum , Sharing is always a biggest parenting issue that I am struggling with. My son doesn't understand the concept of sharing. He throws lots of tantrums if someone takes his toys. I sense that he has a fear that if he gives his toys to another, he would never get it back. He doesn't even want anyone to touch his crayons, moneybox or candies.

Cause & Action:

Most of the times, I blame myself for his behavior. I feel that the prime reason for such behavior is because he doesn't have kids of his age to model sharing behavior. The only time he actually interacts with the kids is in the park or in the school. He goes to pre-school but hasn't been able to grasp the concept.

I always believe that Parenting is a very big challenge and like always there's nothing right or wrong. Even a small adjustment can bring change in life of both the parents and the child.

I was struggling with Sharing for very long time and finally I did make certain changes within me and enviorns that has made some enhancement in my son's behavior as well.

1) Whenever I play with him, I make sure that he shares his toys with me. I always tell him that it’s now mum's chance and he has to give his toy to me. He did throw some fit in the beginning but have adapted to it
2) Eachtime I take him to park, I encourage him to make friends around and wait for his chance. Slowly but surely he has now started sharing his football with the other kids
3) The key to change this behavior is steadiness and repetition. He has to understand that what’s right is right?

Remember not to give in to his tantrums. Step by step I have learned that if you don't give up and keep yourself strong then no matter what, the child would positively change his behavior.

Although I haven't yet achieved my goal 100 % but yes I am on my way and am sure that down the line he would fully understand the notion of sharing and I don’t have to persuade him to share his things.

How do you handle this challenging parent issue? Please share your ideas with me; maybe I can learn something new from your experience.

I would leave you with some thoughts now, but don't forget to come back to see my other parenting issue..

Till then, once again Happy Parenting!! All of you are doing great work