What should I do to avoid the child getting into a huff

[Farrah23]

The child will turn 3 years old. Recently the child always lie on the ground and cry loudly when a tiny thing is not followed by her mind. I try to tell her this is not good, but it doesn't work. Could experienced mom give me some advices? Thanks!

Have you read the book 'how to talk so little children listen and listen so little children talk'? It could help in these situations. When they are upset small children don't have the brainpower to be logical and rational. Telling them something isn't good or doesn't make sense doesn't work for them.

You can communicate with them in ways they find more relatable:

• Validate their feelings and give them a name e.g. 'I understand it's hard to leave the park when you're playing.' 'It's tough when someone else is playing with the toy you want to use' 'I get frustrated when things don't work how I want them to as well'
• Give them a creative outlet for their emotion e.g. 'I can see you're so mad right now, can you draw how mad you are?' (and give them some crayons and paper) or You're so so angry right now, can you stomp around like a big angry giant? Come and stomp with me!
• Fulfil their wishes through fantasy, e.g. 'I know you want another biscuit but we can't have anymore right now. If I was a genie I'd magic up 1000 biscuits for you, and you could eat biscuits all day every day!' or 'You don't want to walk home, I get that. I wish I had a magic carpet and we could fly home, let's pretend we're flying!'

These are just some of the options I remember - I need to re-read the book too haha. But I think these can be quite helpful to try when toddlers are kicking off.

Parent of a 3.5 year old here and I just wanted to add my vote for How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen.

I first heard about it on Mumsnet, cynically thought it would never work but was willing to give it a go.

It’s totally changed how our tantrums play out. It’s not perfect and it doesn’t eradicate emotional outbursts (nor should it!) but it makes them much easier to manage, and gives me the tools to know I’m not doing anything wrong.

The fantasy one is a great one and usually works for us.