Erin - posted on 04/18/2010 ( 10 moms have responded )
So the tantrums in my house have reached fever pitch over the last few days. Milla is only 14 months, but was an early talker and now has a very extensive vocab. However, this doesn't seem to be helping her communicate when she gets agitated, and she just blows up. Yelling, hitting, kicking.. the works. It started a couple of months ago when she was teething hard while cutting her molars, and then eased off considerably until now.
Last night was atrocious. We were at a friend's place and she was having a bath with my friend's 2 kids. She went from being totally fine to being in the throes of the tantrum from hell within minutes, and I still have no idea what caused it. She was definitely tired, but I can't identify any other trigger. She screamed and threw herself around for probably 10mins (I took her straight out of the bath and to a quite place to dry and dress her once she got worked up). It was ridiculous. And today hasn't been much better. She hit my friend's son several times (she was removed from the room and ignored until she calmed down each time) and since we've been home she's cracked it over EVERYTHING.
Some of you probably know that I'm a single mum, and this behaviour is beyond exhausting when I get no break. I'm trying to find a way to help her tell or show me what's bothering her BEFORE she loses the plot completely, but I'm wondering if I'm overestimating her verbal and comprehension skills. Even though she's very advanced, she is still only 14 months. She can tell me if she wants food, or is tired, or wants a drink, or wants to go outside etc, but when I ask her those things once she's getting close to a tantrum she just ignores me.
The biggest problem is that she's exhibiting the behaviours of older children, but is too young for me to manage it exactly as I would if she were a bit older (no way would she sit in time-out). I ignore as much as I can, but am interested if anyone has any more tips on what to do?