10 Months Old and Having Tantrums?!

[jessicasmummy]

Is this normal?!

We are coping with it by leaving her to paddy it out on the floor and then when she has calmed down, picking her up, giving her a kiss and saying thank you for calming down. Tantrums are only lasting between 30-60 seconds.

bobbybob - i can see where you are coming from and i never leave the room or even her space. i just lay her on the floor until she is calm enough for me to pick her up and cuddle and reassure.

now i really do feel like a bad mummy.....

I dont know if my DS is actually having a tantrum.? It only happens at night if he wakes up and he goes bonkers. It seems like hes in distress, and cuddling just wont do, he wants to sit up and play or read a book. If I try and rock him or cuddle up to him in my bed he head slaps and screams.

jessicasmummy> you're doing the best you can..maybe ask your HV (or GP) for advice on how to handle it, too. sometimes the little ones dont want cuddling, but reassurance (ie.- when ds cries when i put him in his cot or playpen to play and that makes him unhappy, so i'll rub his back while he stands in it and give him a kiss and in 5 or so minutes he gets on with playing..)
maybe try the 'boring cuddle' next time she does it and see how it goes?

spongebob> how old is he? my ds went thru a stage of doing this when he was about 9 1/2-10 months old, he wanted to get up in the middle of the night for hours on end and play. what we did to stop this was, when he first cried, i'd go in and assess the situation (if he'd been sick, pooped, teething pain, hungry(he has a distinct hungry cry)), if it was just for attention or to play, i would lay him back down and leave the room. no back rubbing, no cuddling, no talking (other than good night). it worked eventually, but he did cry sometimes (we kinda did some sort of controlled crying once and it worked) ..hang in there and if you know there is nothing wrong with him or he doesn't need anything (milk, pain relief, etc etc)..he may just need to settle himself...good luck!

(*gah! i just wrote a book!)

I didn't want to make anyone feel bad, I just think the ignoring advice is better for older children. Babies cry for a reason - they don't always know what we know (like that electricity will hurt them, or that they will be sick if they eat anymore).

But what do we do in the instance of - ds wants into the closed office and just stands and howls at the door. Do we just let him in for a couple of minutes to calm him - then remove him with distraction? or try and distract away from the door (doesn't usually work). or just leave him to howl on his own? (also doesn't usually work)

ds is 20mths hes started to paddy i have ignored him as i dont want to encourage it when he behaves the way i want especially if it is a time when a tantrum would occur i really praise him.though when my daughter had tantrums 10yrs ago i got down on the floor and gave the biggest tantrum imaginable,dd got up and looked at me gone out.
you know your child and how you want to parent you will find a way that works for you,
i have also found it usefull to try and spot trouble before it spots me,and deciding what is worth the fight and what is not ie if it is summer and hes taken of his socks does it really matter.