Have you ever taken a moment to observe your toddler and notice how busy they are? If so, it will come as no surprise that toddlers have more brain activity at this age.

With so much mental and physical development happening to your little one they will at times tire easily and be less tolerant, and often this presents itself as an explosion of emotion that we will recognise as a tantrum.

Some preventative measures for reducing tantrums are:

• Focus on the positive behaviour your child demonstrates and give descriptive praise.

• Spend quality time together doing things you both enjoy - boredom often leads to behaviour we don’t want to see.

• Throughout the day let your child know what you will be doing and what is going to happen so they know what to expect.

• Have a few necessary and realistic rules.

• Keep to a routine for meal times and sleep times.

• Decide if your child’s requests are reasonable before you say yes or no. Stick to your decision.

If your little one does have a tantrum:

• Ignore the behaviour. Providing your child is safe, take yourself away from them and do not give any attention. When your child is quiet or behaving well praise them and move on to doing something positive together.

Remember children can learn to use tantrums to get what they want, and will escalate their behaviour to make the adults around them give in to their demands. If you say no then don’t change your mind. If tantrums work, they are more likely to happen again!

See: www.parentandbabycoach.co.uk

Next week: The importance of exercise and eating well