If we haven’t witnessed them first-hand, we have all heard of the “terrible twos”, that period of time when toddlers are prone to throwing temper tantrums. In actuality, and unfortunately for parents and caregivers, tantrums don’t start the day a toddler turns two and end the day they turn three. Tantrums usually occur as children are going through normal developmental phases between the ages of 18 months to four years.
A tantrum should not be viewed as a negative thing, although it’s easy to feel that way in the moment. Toddlers aren’t intentionally trying to push our buttons. When a child throws a tantrum, he or she is actually creating or expressing their own individuality, and demonstrating that they can think for themselves. They don’t have the skills to express themselves differently at that age, which is where parents and caregivers need to both meet the child’s needs and help them learn how to cope with problems differently in the future.
