Sick Eli
I don’t know if it’s because Eli was sick, if he’s just hitting that stage or if he just had a bad case of the crabby pants, but man on man, did he have some whopper tantrums today! I admit, we’ve had it pretty easy so far, Eli was a great baby, he wasn’t colicky, he started sleeping 6-8 hours around 8 weeks old, he’s a quick learner and a good eater (other than veggies that is), so this new turn of events is kind of taking us by surprise. What happened to my sweet little boy!
Sure, I knew it was coming, the dreaded terrible two’s. I’ve been warned by several people that it usually starts earlier, around 18 months. Eli is of course right on time. What I’ve found difficult is trying to figure out how to deal with it. Do we ignore him until he calms down? Do we give in and pick him up? Do I close my eyes, sprinkle magic fairy dust
So far, I’ve tried ignoring the tantrum. I stand patiently by, reasoning with my toddler by calmly telling him that he needs to calm down before I will pick him up. And then I wait. And wait. And wait. It feels like at least 30 minutes have passed, but a quick glance at the clock tells me it’s only been 4 minutes. Oh man, how long am I supposed to wait? So I give it another few minutes and without warning, Eli has reached the point of no return. There’s no possible way that he can calm himself down now. But before I even have a chance to comfort him, it happens. He’s so worked up, crying so hard, that he throws up all over the kitchen floor. And then the pugs come running, wanting the special treat. So I close my eyes, sprinkle the fairy dust
Unless Eli reaches the point of no return, I don’t give in. I’m getting better at figuring out when he’s spiraling downward and can’t pull himself out of it. Then I’ll sit on the floor next to him, rub his back and tell him softly that I need him to calm down. And little by little, he will. Once he’s under control, I will then give him want he wanted, usually to be picked up by Momma, some juice
But is that the right way to handle it? Is there a right way to handle it? I have no idea, I’m making this up as I go along! I’m sure that by the time kiddo #2 comes along, I’ll have it all figured out and the terrible two’s will be a breeze. But until then, I’ll just hang in there, and hope that I find the right fairy dust to make these tantrums go away. Or at least some yummy chocolate
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, aren’t tantrums grand? I don’t know how it will work with the whole throwing up thing (Reya never did that, so not sure) but the only thing that works for Reya is for us to actually walk away to where she can’t see us(in another room, which I realize you can’t do for very long with Eli since he needs to be watched a lot closer due to his age). BUT she seems to calm down better on her own than when we try to console her. Not saying it will work for every kid, but you could try it?? He is a little young yet and I can’t remember if we walked away from Reya when she was that young or if at that point we tried out best to console her just to get her through it, but at least now it seems that the more we try to bring her down from it, the longer it drags out. In any event, hope you find something that works…hang in there!
Ohhh, good advice. I’ll give it a try next time and let you know how it goes!