The tantrums started before Xmas and the advice from her doctor when she witnessed one was “Congrats you have a bright child, she has started tantrums early, but good luck because you will have 3 years of hell”. Very reassuring for us to hear. So after some research and talking to friends who have gone through it, we are dealing with it by not paying attention to the tantrum. She is extremely good at them and will lie flat out face down on the floor and scream and bang her head. I caught her giving a sideways glance one day mid tantrum, checking if anyone was looking, were not, sorry sweetie! Once we started ignoring them she started coming out of them very quickly, now only lasting about 30 seconds. I remind her afterwards tantrums are not allowed in this house. We have a hug and she continues back playing.
In other behaviour situations when she is been naughty, I get down on her level, tell her how important it is to be nice and then try and show her what nice looks like (usually nice strokes to face instead of trying to tear mommys hair out). All of this requires a great deal of patience and mental strength! She is defintely hearing the word no a lot. But I am hoping if I put the effort in now, I should have a polite child by the time she starts school.
And as my hubby’s Uncle reminded me at Xmas, “she’ll be starting school soon, time moves on every day”. A scary thought but if the speed of the last 18 months is anything to go by he is right 😉.
