Throwing Fits

My daughter does this. I think she just thinks everything should be her way. My daughter is 16 months old. She is just starting early on the drama.

its normal...she is simply at that age!! if ignoring her behavior works and she gets over, then that is the best thing you can do. when she realizes that she is not going to get what she wants by acting that way, then chances are she will grow out of it soon. just ignore her, and don't ive in to her when she does it....if you let her have her way, then she will continue to pitch a fit when she wants something. hang in there...i know it can be frustrating...but it'll pass!! :)

Hi A.,
My daughter is just beginning with the crying when she doesn't get her way. She is still too young to understand much of an explanation just yet (she's 10 months)but I tell her no, very sternly and explain anyway in short sentences like It's too hot, that hurts, etc etc, and she stops the crying when she sees that that is as far as I take it (I only pick her up to move her away from whatever she was doing and then I walk away). And as far as the diaper changing, for the most part she's good about it, just tries to get up, but every now and then she cries about it too. I've started giving her either an extra diaper or a toy, she even likes the bottle of powder, so I keep an empty one on hand. Her father gives her his cell phone so she can push the buttons and see the screen change - that's her favorite! Regardless of what she gets, it's enough to distract her from the crying, though it doesn't necessarily keep her from sitting up, which I can deal with. You could try that to head off any tantrums over changing diapers, at least.

Hi A.! That last advice is very true! I too am a first time mom to a now 20 month old daughter. She too went through this and still is! It is NO fun! Her fits started about the same time as yours. She would get mad over the smallest things and just flip out! She hated her diaper changed, got mad if we didn't let her have something, got mad because she couldn't get her own shoes on...I could go on and on all day! She has gotten somewhat better now that she can talk and pretty much just tell me what is wrong or what she wants. All I can say is get use to it, there's more to come!

you are going to get a ton of responses on this and they will all say that this is normal. You have at least another year of this (most likely more), so get use to the idea! Her personality is really starting to form and with each month, she will want more independence. you just do what you are doing to try to keep them short and observe what some of the main triggers are. you will never be able to stop her from having them, but you can cut them back a little by knowing what really sets her off. My son just turned two and still has them when we tell him he can not jump off a 8ft platform or run with sissors! i know, we are horrible partents! Things also start to get a lot more fun as their language develops, so the fun will help balance out the tantrums!

This is normal- she is reacting to lots of things- trying to communicate and sometimes not being able to, wanting more control over her environment, etc. Just get through it and try to be as compassionate as possible- I can tell you I have a 3 year old, and I have never regretted being compassionate and patient. Sometimes he just needed to be redirected or to be given a kind word.

This is normal. She is testing her limits with you. If you tell her no or do something that she doesn't want to do, her normal reaction is to throw a fit to get you to give in. Ignoring her is the right thing to do & as she figures out that she isn't going to get what she wants, the fits should start to disappear too. As she gets older & understands more, a brief explanation also helps them understand. I usually tell mine that I know she is upset that she can't...but that it can hurt her, too close to dinner time, etc...I try not to use the b/c I told you so.

Hey, my little girl did the same thing especially since she's the first grandbaby and great grandbaby on my side of the family. She would throw herself into a terrible fit til her face would turn blue. I was really worried and ended up taking her to her dr and asked about it. The pediatrician said she actually had a type of anxiety. "Lexie" knew I was pregnant again and was wanting more attention cause she knows she'll have to share mommy and her attention she gets from nana and papa and great grammy. You might ask her dr if this is the case with your little girl. You also might try when you lay her down to change her play tickle monster or "blow-fart" time and cause her to realize all your doing is changing her and make it a game, Lexie loves to "help" hold the powder and clean diaper when I change her.

A.,
I completely know what you are going through. My son is 14months, and he does the exact same thing. From what I've read, which I seem to do a lot lately, this is just part of their age and them figuring out that every action has some sort of reaction. They are becoming more independant, and they are testing the waters. Not neccessarily to drive us nuts, but just to see what will happen. That is why when we ignore them, they discontinue the action quicker than if we react to them. There are certain events where we have learned that he will react much stronger, and we try to head him off before he gets wound up, but every now and then he catches us off guard, usually when it seems as though the word is looking. The best advice I can give you is to laugh it off, and try to have fun with it. If my son pitches a fit about going in the carseat or having his diaper changed, then my husband and I start laughing so hard that our son stops what he's doing, and eventually joins us. We try to keep lots of distractors around. We have toys and books at the changing table, puffs or cheerios near the highchair, and his favorite car toys by the carseat. If he is really cranky then we bring out the big guns, stuff he cannot usually have. We have an old remote control of ours that does not have batteries, and that always does the trick. I wish you the best of luck and I would love to trade ideas with you anytime.
Sincerely,
E. P.