Frustrated with the amount or extreme level of temper tantrums your child is having? Maybe they happen at the grocery store or at the restaurant. Maybe they hit worst at bedtime. Whenever it happens it can be daunting. I will provide a couple of tactics that can divert the energy and reclaim a more gentle child that you know is inside there somewhere.
First and foremost, you need to remember that talking your child through the process is not likely going to work. Very few people, in a full rage (adults and children both) can think straight or use the logical part of their brain to calm down. If adults can't do it, it is even less likely to happen with children. Their emotions are on fire here. You need to quench that fire if you want the tantrum to stop.
A great way of changing the emotional state of anyone (this works for the adult as well as the child) is to change your body posture. For you - take a deep breathe, pull your shoulders back, even smile - regardless of how you feel, it will change your emotional state.
Now that you are in a better mental state, it is time to work on your child's mental state. The fastest way of doing this is to use some sort of game or strange set of questions. Really odd questions will often interrupt your child's most intense tantrums. Ask them what aliens have for breakfast. Ask them why their mother/brother/sister/father has purple and green hair today. You get the idea. Just interrupt them a bit, then get them to look at the ceiling and count something, or take a deep breathe. Smile at them and see if they don't smile back. Make it something strange and fun for them.
Great job! You are on your way to a happier shopping trip (or wherever you are when the tantrum happens). Just try and avoid bringing up the tantrum issue that set everything off. It is best to let the emotions calm down a bit more before you go in and educate them on a more appropriate way of expressing their feelings.
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