Two Things You Can Do At Home To Help A Toddler Avoid Tantrums At Day Care
Posted on: 24 July 2015
If your child has been throwing tantrums at day care, you may be feeling embarrassed and a little helpless. You want to be there to help your child through the tantrum so the staff and other children don't have to deal with it, but alas, you cannot actually be at day care during the day to address issues when they arise. What you can do, however, is take the following steps at home to try and decrease the frequency and severity of your child's tantrums.
Find out what the tantrum was in response to, and mimic that situation at home.
Ask your child's teacher or supervisor what he or she thinks may have triggered the tantrum. Was your child playing with a toy that another child took away? Perhaps he or she wanted to keep playing, even though the teacher said it was time to eat lunch. Once you have pinpointed what caused the tantrum, you can mimic those same conditions at home. After you put your child in a similar situation a few times, he or she will get used to it and will be less likely to throw a tantrum the next time a similar situation arises at day care.
Depending on what triggered your child's tantrum, mimicking the circumstances may be a bit challenging. You'll have to use your creativity to figure out how to best do this. Was the tantrum triggered by having to share a toy? Invite some other toddlers over, and let them share toys. If your child acted out when told playtime was over, practice pulling him or her away from playtime early for less-enjoyable tasks like bath time and dinner.
Ignore any tantrums your child does have.
Often, children get into the habit of throwing tantrums because they've figured out that if they throw one, they will get what they want. It might take some time to reform your child from this way of thinking, but it can be done. When your child throws a tantrum, just go about your business as usual, pretending nothing unusual is happening. Don't try to calm your child or give in to quiet him or her down. Do not yell at the child or show your displeasure, either.
When the child calms down on their own, then you can reward that behavior with some praise and a few minutes of play. As your child learns that tantrums don't get him or her anywhere, the habit will slowly fade away, both at home and at their day care facility, which might be like The Joy of Learning Center. Your child will realize that it's exhausting to keep throwing fits that don't accomplish anything.
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