Heinz - Tinytums

Toddler Tantrums

Tantrums aren’t always easy. They usually occur just when you need your toddler to behave most, and every situation is a unique and challenging decision for you. On the whole, whether your toddler has a point or not, you want to teach them to express themselves more calmly. For this reason, you often have to ignore their tantrum, letting them know you will deal with the issue at hand once they have calmed down. This way, you aren’t rewarding bad behaviour with your attention. By making their tantrums unsuccessful, you make them less worthwhile. For this you will need discipline, every time you give in for the sake of peace and quiet, you reinforce their tantrum behaviour. So have faith in yourself, you aren’t a bad parent if you let a child cry a little.

But it’s also important for their feelings such as anger, frustration and sadness to be acknowledged. Telling them that you understand that they are angry, that it isn’t nice to feel angry but you can’t help them until they can stop shouting or screaming.

So tantrums are a subtle balance between letting your toddler know you love them and understand/acknowledge their feelings but that their behaviour needs to stay within acceptable parameters.

Shopping
Getting around the shops can be a challenge too. It’s a race against time, or a race against tantrums. But there are some simple ways to avoid tantrums in supermarkets and develop your toddler’s interest in food.

Make it a game. Ask your toddler to point out the items you need. To hold your shopping list for you. To tell you what colour carrots are. To put items in the trolley for you. Or you can ask the child to choose their own dinner from the items in the trolley. Get them to help you choose their Heinz meals & finger foods, to pick their favourite. Or make them try to spot a man with glasses or a woman with grey hair.

And if your toddler needs a snack on the way round, try and bring along something healthy that takes time to eat. Peeled carrot slices are a good option, some mixed fruit chunks or something chewy like a Heinz Toddler’s Own Banana Cereal Bar.