Ramadan is a pretty demanding time even without having a young child.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a month of family gatherings and long mornings. If you\u2019re a working Mom, you barely get home in time to prepare a feast for iftar. If you have an older child, they have studying to do after iftar, not to mention sports practice and prayers, where you get home just in time for a nap before it\u2019s sohour time.<\/p>\n
No rest for the Mommies.<\/p>\n
So when your mother-in-law invites you to iftar, or your friend takes you out to the mall, it feels almost like a trip to Willy Wonka\u2019s factory.<\/p>\n
Good food, adult company, no cooking, no dirty dishes. What could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n
It seems logical to expect that your little kid would understand why s\/he can\u2019t have your undivided attention every moment of the day.<\/p>\n
Surely they see how Mommy deserves a break.<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t though. And they do not like this change at all.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, you\u2019re the woman with the screaming child who wants a cousin\u2019s toy.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re that lady everyone is watching and silently judging at the mall or the mosque with the little one who just won\u2019t stop crying.<\/p>\n
So how do you deal with a toddler\u2019s tantrum?<\/strong><\/p>\n First<\/strong>, take a deep breath. Calm down.<\/p>\n Your baby isn\u2019t doing this on purpose. This is their way to express how they\u2019re feeling.<\/p>\n Second<\/strong>, take your child somewhere you won\u2019t be in people\u2019s way and just let them cry it out. Listen, be there for him or her, but\u00a0do not, under any circumstances<\/em>, give your baby what they want.<\/p>\n If a toddler wants some Pepsi because her aunt just gave her cousin some Pepsi, and she starts crying and screaming and lying on the floor to get it,\u00a0giving her the Pepsi would be like admitting that a tantrum is the way for her to get what she wants.<\/strong><\/p>\n Oddly enough, research has shown that the best way to deal with a tantrum is usually\u00a0doing nothing at all<\/strong>!<\/p>\n Third<\/strong>, and most importantly, don\u2019t ever feel embarrassed. If you look (or pretend to look) like you\u2019re in control, people will pick up on that and think you must know what you\u2019re doing. If however you act nervous or stressed, your own child will pick up on that and things will only get worse.<\/p>\n Is there a way to avoid a tantrum before it strikes?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes, definitely.<\/p>\n Children throw tantrums for many reasons.<\/p>\n They may be hungry. They may be tired. Bored. Sick. They may have had too much candy or feel overwhelmed by crowded places and noise.<\/p>\n Tune in to your child\u2019s emotions.\u00a0<\/strong>Try to read what they can\u2019t express in their own words. If they\u2019re hungry, it\u2019s snack time. If they\u2019re bored, keep a bunch of toys in your purse to bring out whenever you see a tantrum on the horizon.<\/p>\n Set detailed, realistic expectations.\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019re going to your parents\u2019 for iftar, explain you\u2019re going to grandma and grandpa\u2019s and who else will be there. Explain that they can play with their cousins but then they\u2019ll have to leave behind the toys. Be concise but very clear. Repeat the same process every time you leave the house.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bit tedious, but so much better than a tantrum.<\/p>\n Promise your child something he or she likes\u00a0<\/strong>if they behave well all night, like ice cream or reading their favorite book. Be careful to deliver on that promise, only if they truly behave themselves.<\/p>\n Remember that you run the day<\/strong>. Your friend, mother or niece will want to help, but their attention can actually feel like a\u00a0reward\u00a0<\/em>for your baby\u2019s tantrum. Thank them nicely and state that you\u2019ve got this. Maybe throw in a joke.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no need to yell.\u00a0<\/strong>Keep your voice calm and measured. If your child is old enough to reason with, ask them how they\u2019re feeling and explain why they can\u2019t have whatever they want. If they\u2019re younger than three years old, there\u2019s probably no point trying to explain. Avoid questions in these situations. There\u2019s no point asking your child, \u201cwhy are you doing this?\u201d<\/p>\n If they knew, they wouldn\u2019t be throwing a tantrum.<\/p>\n Ramadan Kareem, ladies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ramadan is a pretty demanding time even without having a young child. It\u2019s a month of family gatherings and long mornings. If you\u2019re a working Mom, you barely get home in time to prepare a feast for iftar. If you have an older child, they have studying to do after iftar, not to mention sports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-champ"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2440,"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438\/revisions\/2440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/champsnursery.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}