Toddler tantrums - any tips?

[Echocave]

Dd1 has just turned 2.6. She has always been quite excitable but in the last couple of weeks she has turned into what I suppose is a typical toddler - and I'm finding the drama hard to deal with.

I can handle the constant refusals to do anything etc but it's the screaming tantrums I don't know what to do with. Afraid I've been a shouter at times and I'm now trying very hard not to raise my voice but to be firm. I try to remember she's only a baby and I'm attempting to be very positive with her.

Tonight I wouldn't let her watch tv after tea (we have never done this - she watches a bit before lunch at weekends). And she went mad - screaming, raging, shrieking, she wet herself when she's had no potty training accidents for a good few weeks. I left her in the corner after trying to cajole, make her laugh etc.but she didn't calm down.

Eventually after shouting for her dad for 10 mins I gave up and he did her bath. I took over putting dc2 who is 6 months old to bed.

But I feel very miserable and don't know what to do. I feel so angry at the moment that I feel I don't even like her. I will calm down shortly.

How on earth do people cope with the rages?

Ignore.

Smile, nod. Repeat what will be happening. Never give in, just carry on as if she was having a tantrum about wanting to jump over a cliff. "You can't, dear"

I tried ignoring tonight but she was just screaming. In the end I said, right I'm going into the other room for a minute and when I come back we can talk. But I doubt she even heard that.
Then she just screamed and screamed for 10 minutes and I felt I had to go in to her. I picked her up and carried her under my arm like a log.

I just get down to dd's level, look at her calmly and open my arms out for a cuddle. I talk calmly and wait for it to end. She's so upset when she's tantrumming that she has little emotional control. I tell her how she is feeling in simple words.

I don't give in to what she wants - my aim is to get her to control her outbursts. It seems to work as she can tell me more now.

Thank you. I'll try that one (even though dd hates being cuddled even on a good day). She's so hysterical and I need to find a way of helping her get through that.