Tantrums: what actually works

A tantrum is a nervous system that has run out of capacity, not a negotiation tactic. Reasoning with a child mid-tantrum asks for a skill that is temporarily offline.

Say what you see: "you wanted to keep playing". Stay close, stay quiet, keep the limit. The talking part comes ten minutes later when everyone can hear it.

Prevention is mostly boring: predictable routines, warnings before transitions, food and sleep on time, and two real choices whenever you can offer them.