You know that moment when the whine starts escalating and you just know that a full-blown tantrum is about to assault you with all its loudness and irrationality? I’m sure that that is not a moment that you usually look forward to – until now. That is the exact moment that you can make lasting change by stepping out of your own comfort zone.
My favourite tool for this is called the Pattern Interrupt. Basically it’s creating an extreme interruption to an unwanted behavior that then creates a new neural pathway that will interfere with that behavior in future. It works like this…
At that very moment when the whine starts to escalate, you throw yourself down on the floor, kicking and screaming and flailing around (just like they were about to do). The trick to this working is twofold:
- You must do it BEFORE they get fully into their tantrum. You want to interfere with the neural connection right at the beginning of the behavior so that next time they are about to do it the new pathway kicks in immediately.
- Your actions must be extreme and they must be congruent – in other words your child must actually believe that you are freaking out – half-hearted acting attempts are not going to do the trick. You need to give them a fright.
I used this myself with my youngest when she went through the terrible two’s and I know from experience that it works. The next time that whine starts escalating you look over and see that look of oncoming tantrum turn to confusion and then completely disappear. I love it! It’s also lots of fun and gives you an opportunity to vent some of your own frustration in the situation
The more flexible you are in your behavior, the more in control you are of whatever situation comes up. If you’re feeling too stressed or overwhelmed to be able to do what I have suggested, give us a shout – parenting is supposed to be challenging and to help you to grow, but it is also supposed to be fun.
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8 Responses
Definitely going to try it…when does the terrible two stop, my son is almost three now and it seems to be getting worse.
I'm definitely going to try this with my 2 year old. Hopefully I'll pull it off with a straight face and avoid rolling on the floor from laughing! Bring on the tantrums 🙂
Bwahahahaha! Going to try it!
Great advice from my mom some years back, hope it catches on more and more
I love the suggestion! I wish I received it a day before yesterday because my 2 year old was throwing her tantrums and I didn't know how to handle her. Thanks for the advise it will be useful next time. My question is, what if we are at the mall? What do I do?
Do it at the mall!! Yes, people might think you're mad, but trust me, your child will definitely not do it again! I've seen a woman doing this in Woolies once and as a fellow parent all I thought was "well done to you!"
oooh… I'm so doing this, starting tonight! thanks for the tip =D.
Oh Mia Mia Mia… it worked… felt rather stupid though! but I will soldier on… 🙂