Advice on temper tantrums and more

Civitas provides help dealing with temper tantrums, discipline and other child behavioral problems. As a national not for profit communication group, our mission is to educate parents, grandparents and other care givers on child development issues so that they better understand young children. Topics include the latest techniques in dealing with child behavior including temper tantrums.

Avoiding temper tantrums through proper discipline

There are many reasons why a child may frequently have temper tantrums. These are the emotional equivalent of a summer storm - sudden and sometimes fierce. Some of the problems may be attributed to developing language skills. A toddler's ability to produce language is still limited. Frustration can build when he can't express how he feels. Although daily temper tantrums are perfectly normal for mid-toddler years, keep an open mind about possible problems. Consider any upheaval in the family or routine. If your child is older than 30 months and is still have major temper tantrums every day, it is important to talk to your pediatrician.

How do you deal with outbursts?

Try these solutions:

• Do not lose your cool. Just sit and wait it out.
• Remember you are the one in control. Do not give into unreasonable demands.
• Discuss the issue. Once your child has calmed down, find out what he was feeling.
• Circumvent problem causing situations. Try to avoid problems that trigger his outbursts.
• Leave him alone. Giving him space may help him calm down.

Discipline Guidelines

Discipline means "to teach." When you discipline a child, you are teaching him how he needs to behave in a particular situation. Effective discipline teaches a child right from wrong and helps him to develop self control.

When thinking about discipline and punishment, always take a child's age into account:

• For infants under six months, don't discipline. Discipline is inappropriate for a child at this age. Instead, give the child the attention she needs to create a strong bond between you.
• For infants six months to walking age, give them the space they need. At this age a child still doesn't understand discipline. Focus on safety and exploration.
• For toddlers age one to two, redirect activity. Although a child is beginning to understand discipline, safety is a high priority.
• For toddlers two years and up, set rules and act on them. At this age a child is starting to understand expectations and consequences. Use discipline to teach values and set limits.

Providing the tools to help educate the caregivers.

Civitas offers a wide range of information and resources on child development for a parent, grandparent, teacher or professional caregiver. We transform leading edge research into products and services that are broadly disseminated through television, the Internet, print media and public systems.

At the core of all Civitas projects is leading edge content related to early childhood development. Working with more than 100 top childhood and parenting experts, Civitas ensures that the content we communicate is firmly grounded in science and practice.

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