How to react to tantrums?

[nummies]

I have a 15 month old. He has discovered tantrums. When I take away something that he is playing with (like when he tries to eat rocks or when I remove him from an unsafe situation (playing on the fireplace bricks) he starts screaming and flapping his arms around. Throws himself on the floor, the whole nine yards.

What is the best way to react to this. I usually say "I'm sorry DS but you can't have that or do that. Can we try playing with this over here?" Then I try to engage him in something else. However, this approach never works. He always wants to go straight back to it. So should I change my behavior??

Thanks in advance!!

[rockportmama]

Someone's about to come along with wonderful advice. In the meantime, I just want to share what my LLL leader always said about 14-18 months being incredibly hard on Mom. They're old enough to get into things but not mentally developed enough to remember what not to get into or understand the concept of danger. My only recommedation comes from the same LLL leader. Babyproof, babyproof, babyproof!
HTH!

[jsmusicbox]

Hmm I thankfully haven't had to deal with too many tantrums myself, but some of my friends say that it helps to just be very direct i.e. look the child directly in the eye and tell him why he shouldn't do whatever he's doing.