did toddlers have tantrums 50 years ago?

[ClaraBowWasSoLovely]

Apologies - I bunged this in 'somewhere' yesterday due to computer illiteracy.
My children are in their forties and I don't remember any tantrums, no screaming, flailing, writhing on the floor (my marbles are intact).
I was 18 with my first, so was making it up as I went along.
Perhaps the world was quieter, calmer. We left our children outside shops!
No long distance travel.
Apparently (thanks, Google) other cultures don't experience toddler meltdowns. A writer asserted that the 'terrible twos' doesn't exist.
I'm ancient now, so no little ones of my own.
What do you older parents/grandparents think?

I'm 51.
I was an angel

If DBro or DSis were quiet they were up to no good, if I was quiet I'd be reading.

Tantrums just weren't tolerated back then.

Sounds like the Daily Mail - is it?

Oops forgot the link.
Imho, if you want a great laugh it's worthy of a read 😂

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/714015/terrible-twos-do-not-exist-claims-behaviour-expert-parents-to-blame-for-problem

Of course they did! I'm in my forties and had tantrums. And every description of a toddler in children's books from Little Women onwards tends to describe them as either adorably sweet, probably with a lisp, or a tantrumming menace. Or, like the girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead, both.

I'm in my 40's and my mum still enjoys relaying the stories of me tantrumming in shops - lying on my back in doorways and screaming. 30yrs later I got a taste of my own medicine with DS1

I have travelled in Africa and Asia and have witnessed two year olds tantrumming I. Both those places. One thing I did nothing notice (and this is just from a fairly limited experience of a few countries, I don't want to make foolish "in the African village" comments) is that in Africa tantrumming two year olds were often lumped on someone's back if necessary and left to scream it out/held firmly and their bath time would continue etc etc. basically tantrums were ignored. I also saw people much more willing to give in to toddler behavior as it were i.e. Toddler throws wobbly over sweet "ahh just let him have a sweet" said toddlers are in for a shock when they get older though... so yes, different places different views of and ways of handling tantrums, but tantrums nonetheless...

Did you OP ever come back and say whether she smacked her dcs?

My grandmother told me that she lost my mum in a shop once, Mum had thrown herself on the floor in an epic tantrum and Nana walked off, thinking Mum would give up and follow her, Mum instead went the opposite way, out the door to the bus stop outside, to go to her grandmothers house, Nanna found her outside being fussed over by a couple of older women. Mum's 56.

Presumably she did Trailed if they are now in their 40s. It would have been notably unusual not to.

I'm in my 60s - my children had tantrums, my friends' children had tantrums, all children had tantrums.

Although my sons tantrums tend to be worth when he's tired, so of course if you're able to have a much slower lifestyle then they might tantrums less. But if didn't get my son up each morning to go to nursery I wouldn't be able to,work and would be a single mum on benefits which the express / daily mail wouldn't like either sooo....

I was awful! Mid-40s now

My boy didn't have the terrible two's but I swear he's a late developer. He's having them now, at 7! (any advice greatly appreciated!)

I don't think it was called having tantrums in my day, it was called 'being bold'. Not all toddlers do it though, if I had stopped at two dc I could have said quite honestly that my kids never, ever had tantrums, but number 3 came along and she had occasional meltdowns and still does at 19

I had them, but I got smacked, so that sorted that out

Parenting was either in the care of older siblings, or physically punished. In other words. Shit.

There is a (useful) book entitled "Toddler Taming" that was written over 30 years ago.

I am nearly 60 years old. My tantrums were phenomenal. My mother was ashamed, she thought the neighbours would think she was beating us. And I used to bang my head on the wall - used to scare the wilies out of my mother but I didn't worry when my DS went through a head-banging phase because I never really hurt myself (and neither did he)

Some kids don't throw many tantrums, even now. And parents seem to have very high expectations and worry over very minor stuff, sometimes these days I find myself thinking "call THAT a tantrum? C'mon child, act like you mean it. Give it some welly!"

I definitely did! I'm 50.

Perhaps yours were. My DM is, and my DGMs were, kindly people, who I think understood me and my siblings very well.

Children haven't fundamentally changed in the past 60/70 years.....

(That was in reply to Gluteous)

This idea that all adults were uniformly cruel to children before, say, 1985, is garbage.

Btw I'm 32 and my mother has regaled many with tales of my tantrums.

Every time we are out with my son and he is starting mischief while we are eating lunch or dinner. My mum says "when you were young you never misbehaved when you were out for dinner". Then she laughs "because we NEVER went out for meals in those days".

Mine never had tantrums and they're born recently.

Seems some kids do, some don't, whatever the era.

My sister is 45. My mum remembers her being a total nightmare toddler!