Anyone else’s 3.5 year old girl have possessed by the devil tantrums?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you discipline her and her behavior? There should definitely be some kind of consequences for that behavior.

Uh, no. They cant control it. They have limited to no self regulation. Discipline would teach them to suppress their emotions. Not healthy in the long run.

It's not a seizure, or a bloody nose, it's a tantrum. A three year old is not a grown up, and I would never expect grown behavior or emotional management, but If the problem is so bad that you really think it's completely uncontrollable, then the kid is not on the normal spectrum

What possesses you to give out this dumb a$$ advice when there are multiple posters saying their PEDIATRICIANS (you know, the people with 8+ years of studying child development) state that discipline is an incorrect and unhelpful approach? You must be one of those god awful insufferable moms who lucked out with easy kids and think it was because of your awesome parenting because you aren’t bright enough or self aware enough to realize your good fortune.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you discipline her and her behavior? There should definitely be some kind of consequences for that behavior.

Uh, no. They cant control it. They have limited to no self regulation. Discipline would teach them to suppress their emotions. Not healthy in the long run.

It's not a seizure, or a bloody nose, it's a tantrum. A three year old is not a grown up, and I would never expect grown behavior or emotional management, but If the problem is so bad that you really think it's completely uncontrollable, then the kid is not on the normal spectrum

Some children (including mine) who have epic tantrums/meltdowns go on to be diagnosed with anxiety or ADHD. Others don't. Is that what you meant by "not on the normal spectrum"?

[Anonymous]

Yup. You haven’t lived until you have had to fireman carry your preschooler out of church, a restaurant, the grocery store, basically anywhere. Get some earplugs.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I'd give her something to cry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks.

I physically man handle her and force her to do things (like sit on top of her, pin her arms, and brush her teeth) because like one of the PP's said, I want her to realize who is the boss (I am big, she is little, brushing her teeth isnt a choice, she HAS to do it, and throwing a fit isnt going to get her out of it). I dont do things like that for brushing her hair. but if we have to go somewhere and she's refusing to go, I will drag her kicking and screaming and FORCIBLY shove her into her carseat and buckle her in shrieking.

Ignoring her doesnt usually help. Sometimes if we leave her alone in her room throwing a fit screaming long enough and come back in 20 mins, she's calmed down and is like a new person.

The worst is she gets physically violent - scratching hitting adults, she also gets verbally abusive ("go away mommy! GO AWAY!") etc.

I gently suggest you reconsider your need to be the boss and "win" a physical fight with a 3 year old. She is not a wolf challenging you for pack leadership, she is a child who naturally wants to please you and literally cannot control what she is doing. She is also a person who will be a teen and then an adult: I am big, you are little is a pretty disturbing message.

She is not going to go to college unable to brush her teeth or hair. It doesn't hurt you to be screamed at. Think of it as an less that Wil pass, if that helps you. Let her feel her anger and upset, and learn (from you, ideally) how to deal with her emotions productively. I have anger issues myself and parenting classes helped me not see myself in a battle with my child that I had to win by dominating her.

[Anonymous]

*Think of it as an illness that will pass, if that helps you. Darn autocorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks.

I physically man handle her and force her to do things (like sit on top of her, pin her arms, and brush her teeth) because like one of the PP's said, I want her to realize who is the boss (I am big, she is little, brushing her teeth isnt a choice, she HAS to do it, and throwing a fit isnt going to get her out of it). I dont do things like that for brushing her hair. but if we have to go somewhere and she's refusing to go, I will drag her kicking and screaming and FORCIBLY shove her into her carseat and buckle her in shrieking.

Ignoring her doesnt usually help. Sometimes if we leave her alone in her room throwing a fit screaming long enough and come back in 20 mins, she's calmed down and is like a new person.

The worst is she gets physically violent - scratching hitting adults, she also gets verbally abusive ("go away mommy! GO AWAY!") etc.

I gently suggest you reconsider your need to be the boss and "win" a physical fight with a 3 year old. She is not a wolf challenging you for pack leadership, she is a child who naturally wants to please you and literally cannot control what she is doing. She is also a person who will be a teen and then an adult: I am big, you are little is a pretty disturbing message.

She is not going to go to college unable to brush her teeth or hair. It doesn't hurt you to be screamed at. Think of it as an less that Wil pass, if that helps you. Let her feel her anger and upset, and learn (from you, ideally) how to deal with her emotions productively. I have anger issues myself and parenting classes helped me not see myself in a battle with my child that I had to win by dominating her.

Thanks. This makes sense too. I do feel, in general, the way you raise your toddlers can impact them as kids and later teenagers, and so sometimes giving in to them (negotiating with terrorists) is not a good strategy. But perhaps I over stated my feelings about it- I just mean that I am the grown up, I get to decide that it's important to brush her teeth. Like a dont let the inmates run the asylum type analogy

[Anonymous]

These years can be so frustrating... have you tried brushing your teeth or hair first? Does she follow you into the bathroom and maybe want to imitate you? Maybe make it seem like you're having so much fun doing it...lol. Have you thought of a musical toothbrush or a brush with her favorite character on it? Worth a shot. Just something to make it a fun time. There are some great suggestions here https://bit.ly/2uaTRad also. Really hope something helps. Best wishes!

[Anonymous]

You could try washing the doll's hair and pretend it's throwing a tantrum. Your daughter could then wash her doll's hair while you wash hers.

[Anonymous]

That was a very hard age for us - and his preschool teacher recommended the Positive Discipline for Preschoolers book, and some of those strategies worked. When he'd flip out, I'd take him and hold him in a bear hug saying I'm going to keep both of us safe until he finally relaxed, which did sometimes take a while. And then we'd talk about it and move on. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Yes OP- yes I deal with this all the time with my almost 3 year old twins. At first, I would really let it affect me and it would make me so depressed. But now, I try to take all emotion out of it. The tantrum will stop and we will all figure this out!! I do not give in though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could try washing the doll's hair and pretend it's throwing a tantrum. Your daughter could then wash her doll's hair while you wash hers.

Oh give me a break.

[Anonymous]

My DD has epic tantrums. She was a colicky infant and a fussy baby. She started having tantrums at about 20 months. Definitely got worse and seemed to level off around 3.5 and has slowly gotten better. Our strategy was when she would start screaming I would tell her, as calmly as I could, that I understood she was upset because she had to brush her teeth (or pick up the food she threw or whatever it was) was that it was fine for her to be upset but if she was going to scream she needed to go to her room. This was often said as I was carrying her like a football, to avoid a flailing elbow to the eye, to her room. It usually took her about 45 minutes to calm down. Then when she was calm I would go in and sit with her and reassure her that I loved her and was not angry with her and that now we were going to go brush her teeth or pick up the food etc. At the peak this was happening 3-4 times a day. It was utterly exhausting. As she got older we worked on teaching her to recognize when she was starting to feel overwhelmed and to removed herself from the situation.

She’s six now and has maybe 1-2 a week and can calm herself with ten minutes. We recently had a party at our home with what ended up being almost her entire class. She did great for the first hour then stated to get overwhelmed. From across the room I could see she was in a situation where she looked like she was going to blow. Before I could interview she walked over to me and said, “I need to go be alone in my room for a while.” Twenty minutes later she came out and was fine the rest of the party. I cried that night I was so proud of her and the progress that she has made. There is hope OP! Hang in there and be consistent.

And to the snarky people who think I am a terrible mom for leaving her alone in her room. we tried multiple other approaches over the years and they only made the situation worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup. You haven’t lived until you have had to fireman carry your preschooler out of church, a restaurant, the grocery store, basically anywhere. Get some earplugs.

You forgot the library! #goodtimes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you discipline her and her behavior? There should definitely be some kind of consequences for that behavior.

Uh, no. They cant control it. They have limited to no self regulation. Discipline would teach them to suppress their emotions. Not healthy in the long run.

It's not a seizure, or a bloody nose, it's a tantrum. A three year old is not a grown up, and I would never expect grown behavior or emotional management, but If the problem is so bad that you really think it's completely uncontrollable, then the kid is not on the normal spectrum

What possesses you to give out this dumb a$$ advice when there are multiple posters saying their PEDIATRICIANS (you know, the people with 8+ years of studying child development) state that discipline is an incorrect and unhelpful approach? You must be one of those god awful insufferable moms who lucked out with easy kids and think it was because of your awesome parenting because you aren’t bright enough or self aware enough to realize your good fortune.

Okay, chill out. There is a personal story here that may explain things better. I have a friend whose three year old throws really intense epic tantrums, but there is also something clearly “spectrum-like” about this child. The mom uses terms like “three-anger” tells us all how she can’t sit
For the phase to pass, but none of us think it’s a phase and the kid and family clearly need some medical help.

My point here is that there is normal (and yes, an occasional epic tantrum is normal) and then there is a kid who really needs help but the parents say it’s a phase and miss a critical window for intervention. My kids had epic tantrums, but they were never like my friend’s kid’s tantrums (banging head on the floor, screaming until she lost her voice, flipping out because of highway sound or because the shoes in the hallway were out of order, etc.)