Tantrums (17.5 months old)

Well my two have suddenly developed these tantrums and its a nightmare. All they seem to do is fight over the same toy (DD hits DS) and scream and scream and scream. I´ve noticed the change in behaviour since they started nursery (they began in Sept) but that is to be expected.

DD is also being very picky over her food and refusing meals all together. She wont eat solids either - only biscuit. She is living off yogurt, fruit purees and milk at the moment. I´ve taken to feeding her whilst she is on the go and it seems to be working. DS is eating OK but refuses lunch. Both are playing happily so they arent sick at the moment. I suspect teething but it cant be this long-lasting (a week), can it!?

Please tell me this is a phase. How did/do you cope with all of this x2. I´m finding it exhausting!

TIA

 

With tantrums, I would make sure the kids were in a safe place and just let them have their tantrum. I would try to give as little reaction as possible because I noticed that if I reacted, the worse the tantrum got. If they were arguing over the same item, I would either redirect them, try to have them share and if those two tactics failed, I took the toy away from both of them for a while.
As for the food, I would keep offering food to them and let them eat what they will eat. Kids do go through a picky phase during this second year and they will not starve themselves. As hard as it was for me to see my kids eat little or skip a meal, I tried not to make a big deal about it and just continued to offer meals and snacks at our usual times. Hang in there Momma :hug:

 

We deal with massive tantrums. They happen over toys, cups, having my attention and sometimes they seem over nothing. If no one is getting hurt I do my best to ignore them, which of course isn't easy. I notice that when I pay more attention to them, they get worse and last longer. Dillon has a really bad temper. He gets mad so easily. He gets so mad he runs into his room and will knock over his laugh&learn kitchen. Lucas isn't as bad, but still has the tantrums.

Dianna

 

Ahh tantrums. I'm glad someone posted about this. My boys have at least one tantrum per day, whilst squabbling over a toy or stealing a sippy cup from each other after one has drank all of his.

I don't have any solutions or advice actually bc I am dealing with the same situation as the OP!

My boys have violent tantrums though and resort to biting/slapping/and hitting each other over the head with sippy cups. Does anyone else have aggressive twins? One-minute time outs are only a temporary solution as they like to fight constantly. So much for the perfect camaraderie that other parents said that twins are supposed to have. (Oh, and I don't think it's a coincidence that these other parents never had twins or higher level multiples, otherwise they would know the real truth).

 

I dont referee the toy situation much so if they cant share then I take it away and put it on top of the refrigerator. That way they can both see it, and know that they cant have it because they couldnt play nicely together.
we started our 1 minute time outs at about your childrens age.
meals were always certain foods of the week. She may like biscuits & fruit purees this week but dont be suprised if next week she wants nothing to do with them and agrees to only eat something else

Fun arent they

 

twinfinite, my boys are wicked aggressive. Biting, hitting, pushing and so on. That can either be when having a tantrum and just really whenever. Didn't know toddlers could be so aggressive.

 

Surprisingly, it's turning out to be Nate who has the temper tantrums. Jack has always been more easily frustrated and high maintenance, while Nate is my easy going, happy boy. Lately though, Nate has started to have these complete meltdowns where he turns into psycho toddler-bot (usually when he's overtired or hungry). He'll get frustrated by something and he'll throw himself to the floor and start slamming his head against the ground. Delightful. <_<

I try to put a pillow under his head or move him to the carpet and let him work it out. DH swoops in like Super Parent and tries to console him, which makes it worse (and makes me look like a schmuck :gah: ). I figure as long as he's not hurting himself I'll ignore it.

Luckily this hasn't happened outside the house...yet.....

 

Awwww....the tantrums. At that age, I just let them go at it and ignored it. As they get older, I now make who ever is having a tantrum go in the bedroom and tell them when they are over it and ready they can come back out and play...that seems to work but this has only been a recent development (so maybe a heads up as yours get a bit older).

As far as food, I always offer meals/snacks at the same time every day. We eat at the table and that's that (which has always been hard because my boys are skinny!!!). I try not to fix anything that I know they won't eat, but at the same time, you want them to have variety and get nutrition. Try offering other things along with the things that she will eat...and she will likely move on to something else and then entirely refuse the "tried and true" standbys that she eats now.

Toddlers are fun, aren't they?

Also as another thought...you mentioned teething...have they gotten their first or second year molars in yet? My boys got their first year molars at 16 months old and it lasted about a week to ten days. The second year molars came in at 21 months and did the same. So perhaps the teething may be playing a part.

 

My one daughter would steal from her sister from the day that she could. At about 17 months of age I addressed each stealing episode. Yes each one. That went on for a month with no success. I then sort of learned some of the 1-2-3 magic (time out) since I haven't got the book yet..... and it worked a dream. At first I stood over them in the corner and then I just got to the point where I'd say "I think you need to go into the corner".

Don't take it personally. They all go through it. Some kids are just more prone to hitting, stealing, biting, etc. (I have a biter). They can still grow up to be wonderful human beings. Being a parent is a long road so brace yourself for the long journey instead of burning yourself out in the short run.

Heather