How to deal with my toddler emotions

and to help him cope with them?

Every day toddlers face a lot of new situations and express a lot of emotions. Sometimes it may be challenging both for them and for parents. It’s essential for parents to realize the reasons why this is happening.

The child grows fast and his or her nervous system is also developing. He still doesn’t know himself what is going on, he can just feel it and express it in a simple way with scream or tears. Just imagine yourself being in his shoes: something new happened in your life. You are not sure if you like it. You can not name your feelings. Not only that, but you are scared. All you want is your parent to comfort you.

The very first step while dealing with strong feelings: be sure, it’s not your child’s fault, and he is not making it on purpose. Your role during this period is to show that you care. Sometimes a simple hug can prevent a tantrum.

Here are the steps that will help you and your child to overcome this period.

• Express your own feelings verbally. Explain to your child what you feel and why you express this feeling.
• Name your child’s feelings. Help your toddler to associate the feeling with the world it means.
• Validate your children's feelings. Show that you care and that his feelings are important to you.
• Let your child feel safe with you. Try to be patient. Listen openly and calmly. Sometimes it is not the solution that they need, but just the empathy.
• Create a calm down plan.

It is an action or some actions that will help your child to calm down if he or she is agitated. Try different methods to find those that will work. Some children calm down when you talk about what would happen if they got what they want. The fantasy may lead to an unexpected and funny way out. The others need to express their strong feelings physically. You should give them such a possibility without hurting themselves and other people. Like beating a cushion or throwing a softball.

• Remember that we want our child to know that we love and care about him, but this does not mean we always agree with what he or she is doing. For example, you may say that you see how sad your daughter is, but you still don’t like how she is screaming at her little brother.
• Play feeling games, listen to the songs and read books on this topic.

It will help your child to identify the feelings of others.

The game «My first emotions» will help your child explore the most important emotions: joy, anger, surprise, fear, sadness. The kid will practice portraying emotions and tell why he is angry, happy, or sad.

Helping your toddler learn to identify and deal with their emotions not only helps to reduce their tantrums, but also develops their emotional intelligence, which is the foundation for us to teach them to be empathetic to others.