Your 15-month-old: Week 4
By now you probably know how powerless you can feel when your toddler decides to have a full-blown screaming fit in the middle of the produce section. It may be embarrassing, but rest assured that other parents feel your pain. Whatever you do, don't get angry. Losing your patience won't solve the problem and will only draw more attention to you. It also sends a message to your child that raising your voice is a good way to get a reaction.
Instead, just take your child out of the store (even if it means leaving a cart full of food behind) and sit with him in the car or on a bench until he finishes crying. When the storm is over, your child will feel close to you and happy again, and will be over the feelings that had welled up into the outburst. You can also take some comfort in knowing that eventually your child will outgrow this behavior. Oldest child is 4, she still does this? Do they really ever outgrow it?!?
3 comments, add yours here:
You can see this two ways.
1. You stay in the store with the screaming child.. which is embarrassing.
2. You can leave. I've done this, but looking back isn't that giving the child control of the situation?
Let's call Nanny 911 :)
It may be bragging, but I never had to deal with that with either of my children when they were small. As a matter of fact, after they had gotten older they would see another child who was misbehaving and look at me and say," I know what would happen to us if we did that". BTW, I never had to discipline them physically, just one look took care of it.
I remember that we were that way in the store. We knew that if we acted up there that we might not get it there, but we would when we got home. My mom was strict. We knew how to behave and we did!!
Shelby is usually good. Tyler is still small enough, though that when he's tired, sick, etc that he might be fussy in a restaurant or shopping cart. So, that's hard. I usually will carry him outside b/c I know when I am eating I don't like to hear screaming kids...especially someone else's!
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