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When I answered the phone, I heard the shrieks immediately. It was obvious that a child was having a nuclear meltdown on the other end of the line and the mother, exhausted and frantic, was calling parent coaching for help. As the mother tried to explain what was going on, I struggled to hear her over the commotion. “We’ve been dealing with this for over an hour now. When is he going to stop?” she asked.

These kinds of calls are not at all uncommon for parent coaching. I talked to parents every day who have kids who come completely unglued at the drop of a hat; these parents struggle to cope with the resulting chaos. Believe it or not, there are ways to help eliminate tantrums from your daily life. It starts with understanding the meltdown.

Inside the Meltdown

The way kids think really has a lot to do with why they melt down—and why it’s so hard for them to calm down. Kids use a lot of negative self-talk and faulty thinking. Negative self-talk includes fantasies about power. Kids will think, “I’ll show her who’s boss,” or “This will teach her to tell me what to do.” They think about how unfair things are, how mean they think you are, and how little you understand them, to name a few examples. These flawed thoughts and mental images of being in control fuel their rage.

It’s important to realize that kids, especially pre-teens, might not be very aware of their mental processes, though, and how these impact their behavior. What’s more, once the negative self-talk starts it’s very hard for them to stop or change it—which is part of what it takes for them to calm down. (I’ll be telling you how to do that in a minute.)

It’s also important to understand that if you’ve ever given in to your child during a meltdown, then meltdowns take on a purpose—to wear you down so that you’ll give in again. It’s hard to get kids to calm down from a tantrum if a tantrum has had a positive payoff, even once in the past. There’s nothing appealing to your child about calming down when they can gain control by appearing to lose it. (This is the slot machine effect we’ve talked about before—kids will keep pulling the lever over and over until they hit the jackpot. )

Calming Down: From Pre-schoolers to Teens

Unfortunately, as hard as it is, sometimes we simply have to step back and let kids physically wear themselves out (as long as they are not endangering themselves or anyone else). There are also some “best practices” that can help you teach your child to manage his emotions more effectively, too.

The best way to handle a child in all-out meltdown mode varies a little bit by age and stage.

Toddlers and pre-schoolers: Kids under five will need you to redirect them to a specific activity that can help them calm down. You might say, “I can see you’re really upset. I wish I could help you calm down right now. Here, why don’t you draw a picture that shows me how mad you are?” This is just a suggestion—you can try any activity you think will be soothing to your child or help them use their energy in a more positive way. With kids in this age range, walking away from them during a tantrum can cause anxiety rather than calm, so it’s often best to stay within eyesight and direct your own attention to another activity until your child is calm.

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They will need you to role model how to calm down for them, so minimize your interaction until you’re both calm. If you can, try to role model calm activities by taking deep breaths, flipping through a magazine, or tidying up, for example. I understand that it isn’t always possible to keep your cool when your child is in full-blown tantrum mode, but it is helpful to show him that you’re not going to become unglued by his actions—and that you’re not afraid of him or his anger. Don’t give the tantrum more power than it deserves, or you will find your child using anger more and more to get what he wants.

Elementary-aged kids: With kids in this age range, it works well to come up with a “Calm-down Plan” ahead of time. Talk with your child and let him know it’s okay to be angry, but it’s important to deal with anger in a positive way, rather than screaming, throwing things, or name-calling. Keep the plan simple—one to two steps max—and role-play the plan to help your child practice. Some kids find it helpful to go to their room, listen to music, do something creative, punch a pillow, or do something active outside.

The next time you notice your child is getting upset, remind him to do the activity you planned and then disengage by walking away. Take some time and space to yourself until he calms down. This might mean that you ride out the storm, so to speak, in a room with a locked door and ignore the screaming and pounding on the other side. It might also be very helpful for you to set it up ahead of time so that your child can earn an incentive when he tries to calm himself down, which helps to motivate him to follow your instructions even in the heat of the moment.

Teens and young adults: Again, it helps to problem-solve and come up with a plan in advance, or even a menu of options they can use to calm down. In the heat of the moment, remind your child to follow the plan and walk away, staying disengaged until you are both calm. For teens, it might help for them to exercise, go for a walk, call a friend to vent, read, or write in a journal. Rewards or consequences can be effective to motivate your child to follow the plan, but it’s not effective to provide either when the storm is raging. If it’s safe, you can leave the house during an outburst to allow you both some time and space to calm down. Some parents will call us from their locked car in the driveway, or they’ll go drive around the block or run some errands. If your child acts out by breaking something while you’re gone, for example, give her consequences for her actions when you get home.

5 Tips to Help Your Child Calm Down

Here are some tips and techniques that are helpful for all ages and stages.

Don’t try to control kids when they’re angry: Rather than trying to get your child to her room, or trying to make her stop screaming and throwing things, focus on controlling yourself. Usually when you try to control another human being, they just push back even harder against you. You can’t ultimately make your child stop screaming or throwing things, and we don’t recommend that you try. It’s best to focus on being a positive role model, staying calm, and refraining from trying to overpower them. When you accept that your child will either choose to keep going or choose to try the Calm-down Plan, the dynamic of the situation changes for the better.

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Avoid reasoning and deep conversations: Many parents will make the well-intended mistake of trying to reason with their child and “talk them out of the meltdown.” They think, “If I can just get him to understand, maybe he’ll stop.” Trying to reason with your child, attempting to get him to understand your perspective, or even talking about why he’s so angry, just like with adults, is probably not going to be productive. It’s much more effective to talk later when everyone is calm.

Respect your child’s perspective: When you are coaching your child to calm down in the heat of the moment, try your best to use a calm, quiet tone and language that’s as non-judgmental as possible. For example, let’s say your child is freaking out about not having anything to wear to school, and her tantrum is escalating into a full-blown rage. It’s not going to be helpful to say, “That’s not important,” or “There’s no reason to be mad.” The truth is, it is important to your child in that moment and it s a reason to be angry in her eyes. It matters to her and if you minimize it too much, you might end up escalating the situation even more. Think of it this way: if you’re upset about something and your spouse, a colleague or neighbor says, “It’s not important. Why are you so upset?”—how would you feel?

Accept trial and error: You might need to experiment with different language or techniques to find what works best for your child when he’s angry. Some kids respond well to non-verbal cues like hand-signals, while older kids might find that embarrassing. Some kids get angrier if you tell them to take a time-out, but might respond well when you say it’s time for you both to take a break or cool off. If certain words or phrases seem to fan the flames, take note and try some different words next time.

Repeat, repeat, repeat: This process of problem solving, coaching, and then walking away is something that most parents will need to do over and over again. Remember that kids need repetition in order to learn new ways of managing difficult situations and emotions. Effective parenting—and the ability for your child to calm down—just like anything else, takes practice.

Anger can build up pretty gradually or come to a peak rather quickly, but it usually takes a while for feelings of anger to fade away. As you work with your child on better coping skills, over time you might see them begin to calm down more quickly. In the meantime, though, you might see a lower-level anger hanging around after the peak. We recommend that you ignore it and the door-slamming, stomping, grumbling, and scowling that come along with it. We don’t want to give these lesser behaviors a lot of power or re-escalate the situation. Remember that everyone deals with anger in a different way and some people recover from it more promptly than others. Just because you are ready to move on doesn’t mean your child should be, too. When you use the tools and suggestions provided here and consistently practice limiting your interaction with your child during a meltdown, the meltdowns should gradually get shorter in length and less frequent over time.

Related Content:
Acting Out in Public: Is Your Child’s Behavior Holding You Hostage?
Stopping a Temper Tantrum in its Tracks: What to Do When Kids Lose it

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About

Sara Bean, M.Ed. is a certified school counselor and former Empowering Parents Parent Coach with over 10 years of experience working with children and families. She is also a proud mom.

Comments (12)
  • kristina
    When my 5 year old starts a tantrum, I do as you say, walk away, calmly tidy up the house. The trouble is, he then usually starts terrorizing his younger sister, or breaking other house rules. It's always something, he doesn't just scream and cry without getting intoMore some other trouble that demands a response. So then what do you suggest? My solution has been to carry him to his room and lock the door, but I know that just makes him feel infuriated and you wouldn't recommend that? What ideas do you have to avoid the locked in time out?
    • Denise Rowden, Parent CoachEP Coach
      I hear your frustration. It can help to look at managing a tantrum in both the short term (in the moment) and long term (skill development). In the moment, you do want to limit the amount of attention you're giving the behavior. Decreasing the attention helps to decrease the reinforcement.More You also want to be following up after things have calmed down with a problem solving conversation that helps your child find more effective ways of managing his anger and frustration. We have a great article that goes over how to have a problem solving conversation: The Surprising Reason for Bad Child Behavior: “I Can’t Solve Problems”. I hope this helps!
  • Madhuparna Adhikary
    My 2-year-old frequently has meltdowns which occurs mostly when we are about to leave or leave her friends place to back home. Whether it's playing outside or visiting her friends home or coming back from playschool, she refuses to get out of the elevator , we almost have her crawlingMore out of the elevator to screaming and getting stranded in the road whilst being back from school to shrieking and refusing to get inside the apartment. I'm at loss sometimes as i feel i cant control her. At one time she created such a commotion that we had people coming down from 4th floor to check if she hurt herself or got stuck in the elevator . She cried herself red in the face. Please suggest something .
    • Rebecca Wolfenden, Parent CoachEP Coach
      Tantrums can be so challenging and embarrassing for parents to deal with, and it’s great that you’re here reaching out for support. It is pretty common for kids your daughter’s age to have outbursts, because they tend to have a low tolerance for frustration, poor impulse control, and fewMore appropriate coping skills to use when they are upset. This doesn’t mean that you are powerless to address these, though. It’s a great start that you have started identifying common patterns for these to occur, because you can anticipate when they might happen and plan for how you can respond. Dr. Joan outlines some helpful tips for you to use next in her article, Explosive Child Anger: Taming Your Toddler’s Temper Tantrum. I understand how difficult this must be for you, and I hope that you will write back and let us know how things are going for you and your family. Take care.
  • Michelle

    I have an 8 year old daughter who gets very explosive over very minor issues. We, her parents, feel that we remain fairly calm and try very hard to de-escalate the tantrum without giving in to her demands. We do verbalize that we understand that she is frustrated and angry, but hurting others while throwing a tantrum is unacceptable. We encourage her to go to sit on her bed or even go upstairs/downstairs to take a break and breathe and we can talk about things when she calms down. She has such a rage about her though that there is no reasoning with her. She grabs on to us and hangs on to us and screams at the top of her lungs. It is very difficult to get her to let go of us - I want so badly to hug her in hope to calm her down, but then I can't hug her as I fear that this would give her the impression that I am okay with this behaviour. We have walked her through several ideas to cool down, breathing, leaving the room or going to her room or taking personal space on a different floor in the house, stomping on the floor, punching a pillow, etc, however this seems to not be registering with her when the tantrum breaks out despite reviewing these ideas regularly (when not in tantrum). During her tantrum, she will hurt her sisters, throw things, punch us (her parents) slam doors, etc. I am so unsure what we are doing wrong as parents. She is 8, this behaviour I would expect from a 2 year old, not an 8 year old.

    Her tantrums are usually about her not getting her way and we NEVER give in once the tantrum starts, however she does gain consequences along the way for her actions. Is it maybe because we identify behaviours during her tantrum that will bring her consequences. Doing this at times can help her get a hold of herself, while other times, she ignores this and the behaviour continues. Any suggestions?

    • Rebecca Wolfenden, Parent Coach
      I hear you. Tantrums can be so difficult to overcome, especially when they appear over relatively minor issues. It sounds like you are already practicing many of the responses we recommend, such as staying calm, redirecting her to a calming activity, talking about alternate strategies when things areMore calm and not giving in to her tantrum. As you noted, it might be useful to limit all interactions with her once you have set a limit in order to help her calm down. For many kids, any form of communication during an outburst can be triggering, especially if you’re telling her that she’s getting a consequence. Stopping the dialogue and walking away can help her to calm down as well as to decrease her abusive and destructive behavior toward others during a tantrum. You can find more tips on this in How to Walk Away from a Fight with Your Child: Why It’s Harder Than You Think. Please be sure to write back and let us know how things are going for you and your family. Take care.
  • Rebecca
    My Daughter of fifteen months, Is constantly throwing tantrums I have tried reasoning with her, Giving in to her , And sadly bribing her. Yet none of these strategies have slightly begin to help her she can be rather violent in her tantrum's that she throws and she isMore constantly putting herself into harms way! How do I get my baby girl to listen to me before she ends up badly hurt or worse ? ?
    • RebeccaW_ParentalSupport

      @Rebecca 

      Tantrums are a common, yet challenging behavior for most

      parents of children this age.  Most children your daughter’s age engage in

      tantrums, due to a combination of a low frustration tolerance, few coping

      skills, and poor self-control.  Trying to reason with her is unlikely to

      be effective, as your daughter is probably not quite there yet in her

      development.  In addition, I want to point out that many of the techniques

      described here on Empowering Parents may be inappropriate to use with your

      daughter due to her age and developmental level. Your daughter’s

      doctor can be a great resource for you, with information on child development,

      as well as providing any necessary referrals to local supports.  Another

      helpful resource for you might be the https://www.zerotothree.org/resources?type=parenting-resources, which offers information on topics related

      to young children such as tantrums, aggressive behavior, and many more. 

      Thank you for your question; take care.

  • 2101
    my four and a half sister every week throws a tantrum.sometimes they are big,and sometimes small.on her big ones she breakes things and one time hurt my mom.today she had a small one that lasted 30 mins and i followed these tips and it got it over in 3 mins.THANKSMore A LOT!!!!i will try and keep this in mind.it really seemed to have comforted her.even my dad agreed and we only read one sentance!again,thanks
  • purpleangel1
    i have a 13 year old boy that has anger issues we have had a youth worker who helped with the hitting out side but the anger is still there I have tried point charts with rules written down I have tried ignoring him when he is in a moodMore noting seems to help at the moment as a single mum its hard was wondering if any one had so good tips to help
    • Darlene EP

      purpleangel1 

      It sounds like your son is

      lacking effective coping skills to solve his problem of being angry or

      frustrated. Like the article above mentions, in order for your son to change

      his behavior he needs to learn new behaviors. You can help him to do that by coaching

      and teaching appropriate ways to calm down. You will want to choose a calm

      moment to sit down with you son and discuss what he can do when he is feeling

      angry that will help him to calm down. He can do something like take deep

      breaths, take a walk, or shoot some hoops. When he does one of these things,

      you can have a reward system set up to reinforce  the new behavior. If he

      does not, you can have a short term consequence, like loss of his tv or phone

      privilege for a short period of time. You will want to have the problem solving

      conversation consistently and repetitively until the behavior starts to change.

      For more on how to implement this strategy check out this article http://www.empoweringparents.com/the-surprising-reason-for-bad-child-behavior.php.

      We hope this is helpful for your situation. Let us know if we can be of any

      further help. Take care.

  • blending
    we are a blended family. My husband's 2nd daughter (the youngest of our 4 kids) is always bossy, especially with her father. Always wants to have his attention and mine, and tries to gain this by accusing the other kids of things they have or haven't done...believing that this willMore make us angry against them. this causes tension between the kids themselves but also stresses me out. my husband is controlled by her and he knows it, but he adores her and cant do much. if we dont follow her commands she starts crying and saying things, upseting the whole family. i can't openly talk about this psychological stress she puts us through, to my husband because he will defend her and most propably think that i dont want the kid, which of course is not true.
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