Taking care of your toddler can be a mix of fascination and frustration for any parent. After all, this is the time when your little one starts to assess his independence. The rapidly changing toddler behavior can leave you baffled and confused at times, but it might help to realize that this is just a passing stage, a part of growing up. Sooner or later your precious toddler will outgrow it, and it will just be a fond memory for you to look back to. However, now that you’re still in this erratic phase of your little darling’s early childhood years, it’s just sensible that you know how to better handle your toddler. You need to understand the motivation behind his actions and take advantage of this time to instill positive values and lessons in your little one. Here are two usual toddler quirks, and tips on how you can manage them:
Mood swings
It is common for a toddler to be all smiles one minute, and to be openly fretting the next. While an unpredictable shift in mood can take its toll on you, particularly if you’re already very stressed from work, you might want to strive to take it all in stride. The most important thing to a toddler is the present – the here and now. He might be delighted with the ice cream he had for evening dessert, but if he couldn’t catch his favorite cartoon on TV five minutes later, that is enough reason for him to bed upset. You can try to adjust your attention to match your little one. If he’s happy about something, show encouragement; if he’s upset, you can distract him with something else.
Rigidity
During toddler years, your little darling has most probably discerned that being stubborn about something can help him get what he wants. In the face of such rigid toddler behavior, it is up to you to decide if you can actually be amiable about it – or if you have make a firm stand against it. For example, if it’s just a little thing like how to go about saying good night to his favorite stuffed toys before going to bed, there’s hardly any reason to refuse. But if he’s being stubborn about something quite serious, like refusing to eat properly, then you have to realize that you have the final say in it.
Your toddler may be frustratingly temperamental on some occasions, but it’s just a matter of knowing how to adapt yourself to the situation. The bottom line is for you to see through your little one’s erratic behaviors – without losing your mind in the process.
