Your questions answered by Emma Mahony of Greatvine.com
What is the best way to deal with a major tantrum from two-year-old twins in a public place?
In order to know how to handle toddle tantrums you must first assess what the cause of the tantrum is. Only then can you best decide how to handle it.
There are all sorts of reasons why your twins may be throwing tantrums. Tantrumming has nothing to do with your parenting; it is an important stage in a toddler expressing his will as part of the process of distancing from the mothership. It may also be due to:
- Boredom
- Tiredness
- Frustration that they do not have your full attention.
Stay calm
Once they have started and are in full-blown mode, there is little you can do on the reasoning front – they are like storms that need to blow their emotional course, until finally the wind dies down. What you must ensure you do, do however is:
- Stay in control
- Remain calm
- Do not shout
- Never give in!
If the cause is obvious you may also try removing them from it. Finally don't feel embarrassed - toddler tantrums are common, so ignore those who stare!
You will start to learn that there are trigger places (queues in supermarkets, hair pulling when out and about) and fairness has nothing to do with it. If all else fails, carry a supply of Chupa-chups sugarless lollies in your bag and offer them as dummies to them both before the whole thing kicks off. Back home, however, allow them to throw themselves on the floor in histrionics and never give in.
Emma Mahony
Emma Mahony has over eight years of experience writing for The Times on parenting issues and specialises in twins. A twin herself, and having given birth to twins, Emma also published the successful ‘Double trouble – twins and how to survive them’. For individual advice you can trust, book a private call with Emma at www.greatvine.com/emma_mahony.
Greatvine.com offers individual advice, by phone, direct from the country’s best parenting experts.
