Tips for Preventing Toddler’s Public Tantrum
Some parents would have experienced embarrassment when their children throw a public tantrum in a store. How to tackle the problem? I think prevention is better than cure. Some methods I tried before and worked for my children:
1. Before going to any store, I would talk with my children where and what I would buy. Sometimes my children would tell me something they liked to buy too. Maybe something to eat or play. If I decided to buy it for them, then I wrote it down on a shopping list stating my budget.
2. And then I would tell my children how much would be my budget. Say if it’s within my budget, I would buy. Otherwise, I wouldn’t buy at that store. Or we might do some shopping around to get a good price at another store. At first my children didn’t understand the meaning of “budget”. But after a few times of teaching them, they got it.
3. Before leaving home, I would remind them no tantrum would be accepted. This was not a way to get what they wanted, but only get what they didn’t want, such as no television that night. I also prepared to use actions to back up my words if needed.
4. Sometimes they wanted something badly in a store which was not in our shopping list or over our budget. Then my husband and I would talk with them and remind them what we had said at home. Lucky us, we have a pair of very cooperative children. They didn’t throw any tantrum at all because they knew tantrum didn’t work for them.
5.When we went back home, I would reward them some ice-cream or something they liked at home for their cooperation.
Do these tips sound right to you?