Seeing your child having tantrums in public is probably one of your worst days. You have to deal with a terrible situation in front of other people’s judging eyes. Imagine if it happens on a train or a grocery store.
Things to Do When Your Child Makes a Tantrum in Public
You will worry about every person judging you for being unable to control your child. These are suggestions for what you can do in this situation.
Calm down
Your child is already under immense stress. You don’t want to worsen the problem by getting angry too. It doesn’t solve the problem. If anything, your child will cry more to match your anger. The worse scenario is that you may feel tempted to hit your child while others are watching. It doesn’t help whether or not other people are around. The best thing to do is to calm down and wait until your child starts to relax.
Sit and talk to your child
You can never make your child stop while you’re standing. An immense stare or threatening voice will not help either. An excellent way to stop misbehaviour is to sit and level with your child. It also shows that you’re willing to listen. Sometimes children just want attention. If they don’t get it, they throw tantrums. It doesn’t mean you will give in. The point is that you should try your best to lower the intensity and keep the situation under control.
Give your’s child something to look forward to
You can promise something nice when the crying stops. It can be a treat to their favourite restaurant or a new toy. If you’ve been thinking about installing sensory room equipment, now is your chance to make it happen. It doesn’t mean you’re rewarding bad behaviour. The point is that you want to highlight that behavioural changes can mean something good for them in return.
Ignore other people
You can never be an excellent parent if shame is the primary motivation. You want to deal with the problem because it’s the right thing to do. You also see the need to help your child in a stressful situation. If your goal is to look good in other people’s eyes, it’s a terrible decision. Besides, these people aren’t helping you raise your children. There is no point in parenting from their standpoint. Just because your child is throwing tantrums, doesn’t mean you’re a terrible parent. It’s natural for children to act that way at times. The problem is if you decide to hit your child or escalate the situation.
Make sure it doesn’t happen again
When you reach home, you should talk to your child about what happened. You don’t want the same behaviour to happen again. You can also ask the reason behind the misbehaviour. Perhaps, there are more significant changes that you can do at home so your child won’t throw tantrums again.
It helps to have constant communication with your family members. It’s also a healthy thing to do as your children are growing up. They will feel more be comfortable talking to you if they have other problems in the future.