Oh, the tantrums!

[Logan's mommy]

Ds2 has began throwing massive tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. He will slither out of our arms, refusing to let us calm him, run to the nearest wall and bang his head on it, then run back for us to hold him. What should we do? What do you all do when your 18 month old throws a fit like this?

[EmilyVorpe]

My dd is 23 months, but she has been doing the back-arching, screechy tantrums since she was about 16 months old. She is JUST beginning to become verbal so I think her lack of communication is to blame. ANYWAY,what we do is remove remove remove. If she doesnt want us to be near her, we remove ourselves. If she is in danger of hurting herself, we remove the danger---if the danger is toys to be thrown, we remove them...if its a wall, we remove her from the room. You can't force them to let you call them down and sometimes, it prolongs the tantrums if you try. We also are constantly trying to name her emotions for her to help her ward off future tantrums, with the mindset that she will eventually tell us she is mad or sad or angry or whatever...and that may prevent.

[willow_sky]

Our son is 18 months and his tantrums were really bad at first. At first we tried to make him feel better or to get him whatever he wanted. That didn't work!

So now we somewhat ignore him. I acknowledge his feelings by saying things like "you must be very frustrated" and then just sit and wait until he's finished. If he slams his head on the floor or something we say "ouch". Once he has calmed down a little, I usually bring out a toy or something to get his mind off it.

hope this helps!