1 year old temper tantrums

[Hunnybunn72]

I'm loosing the will to live, I have no idea how to cope with them or what is prompting them. Any ideas please ?

I'm so sorry - My 2.5 yr old dd started her temper tantrums very early on. I'm afraid all you can do is try and stay calm and ignore it. Just sit next to and make sure they don't hurt themselves, sometimes a hand on the back can help - but really you just have to let them get on with thrashing about, and then have a cuddle once it's over.

More likely to happen if overtired and hungry - so have a look at naps and diet, but the cause is generally because they get frustrated at not having control of the world, and not being able to communicate everythig that goes on in their heads because they can't talk properly yet, not being able to move their bodies in the ways they imagine they want to... lots of recent studies have shown that babies/early toddlers have a lot more going on in their heads than we think they do... it's a hard life.

Mean time, you put your feet up, have a cup of tea and try to imagine the day when he/she will move out...

Dd2 is 16mo and we've had the tantrums for a while. I can't remember when they started with ds1 (must have blotted them from my memory!) but they definitely started well before 2yo because I was taken aback that the 'terrible twos' didn't wait until he was 2! It's just their way of expressing frustration that this exciting new world that they are just learning about doesn't allow them to do everything they want to - can't play with the plug socket, not allowed to get into the oven, can't manage to climb on the table (dd2 has managed that now, unfortunately), can't walk / run / jump / fly as they want to - life is just so unfair! I just make sure that dd2 is on a soft carpet and generally then leave her to it while I carry on doing things around her or else go into the next room. After a minute I speak to her as if nothing has happened and offer a distraction. Sometimes that works! It's more of a challenge when she follows me round wailing, but she usually gets distracted by something else exciting or forbidden before too long. It will pass! Just don't take it personally or get stressed when you can't avoid / stop it.

DD is 16 months and we have tantrums too... especially when she is hungry tired or a bit ill (cold/cough etc). The head banging on the floor is especially fun As others say I make sure she doesn't hurt herself but otherwise I try not to react.

Does your DC have a cold or other virus? If so then it may improve a lot once that clears up (that's the case for my DD anyway).