7 Toddler Behaviour Problems Parents Shouldn’t Ignore

As your toddler learns more about the world and experiences new things, they will also develop behavioural traits. As a parent, you should carefully monitor the development of your toddler because behavioural problems can occur very quickly. Here are 7 toddler behaviour problems that you should watch for and how to deal with them effectively.

1. Tantrums and Yelling

One of the most common behaviour problems that parents experience from their toddler are tantrums and yelling episodes. Children between the ages of 1 and 4 have not developed very good coping skills yet, so when anything goes wrong their first reaction will be to yell or throw a tantrum. If the behaviour is not corrected they will carry it through into their teen years, causing some serious problems later on!

Some simple tips for addressing tantrums include:

Finding the cause of the tantrum and fixing the problem — if possible and reasonable.
Give your child some space to act out their frustration. Take yourself out of the equation and let them vent their frustration in an empty room with a time-out.
Hug it out! One of the best way to console your child is to simply give them a hug
Create diversions to take your child’s mind off of the problem.
Reward your child for ‘tolerating’ difficult environments. Sometimes a tantrum will occur because your child is forced to sit in a quiet environment for an hour. Toddler’s brains aren’t designed to handle quiet spaces and boring activities, so tantrums may occur. Reward them if the activity is particularly difficult for them.

2. Physical Aggression

Aggression is a normal part of your child’s development and most toddlers will begin to display some aggressive behaviour around the age of 2 (Parenting, 2015). When they are frustrated, they will first vocalise that frustration then if that doesn’t work, they can display physical aggression. Physical aggression is one of the most serious toddler behaviour problems if it is not addressed because violent tendencies can stay with a child for their entire life.

When your toddler is 2-4 years old they lack the verbal skills to sufficiently explain the source of their frustration. You will have to carefully watch your toddler’s activities and identify what is causing their angst! If possible, find the trigger and solve the problem for your child.

The next step is to begin teaching your toddler to communicate their frustrations to you when possible. When they act out aggressively, talk to them calmly and train them in the appropriate ways to vocalise frustration. Use your facial expressions to communicate the negative impact of physical aggression from your toddler. If they pinch you, tell them no and make a sad face, indicating that their actions hurt you. Toddlers may think their parent is an incredibly tough giant-like creature, impervious to pain!

Redirect the aggression to another physical act, like a hug. If they are frustrated and crying, give them a kiss and sympathise with their plight. A time-out might also work for some toddlers, so they know their behaviour has ramifications.

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3. Throwing Things

Toddlers love to throw things because it’s a brand new skill they have just learned and they enjoy practicing it. Once they learn that throwing things is fun, they may incorporate the behaviour into their tantrums or aggressive behaviour as a way to relieve stress.

Throwing is one of the most serious toddler behaviour problems because you don’t know what they will be throwing next. They might find a glass object, something heavy or something valuable. They might just throw their dinner plate onto the floor! It is easy for a toddler to injure themselves or someone else if they have a good throwing arm and some anger issues.

One way to limit the damage from throwing is to have a large supply of soft throwable objects for your toddler. Surround them with plastic balls, little bean bags and plush toys that can be thrown without injury. To prevent them from throwing their dinner plate around, get some suction cups that firmly attach it to the table or high chair. Remove all ornaments and get all children to use plastic cups, so when the toddler finds a cup they can’t smash it into a dozen sharp pieces.

4. Running Away From You

One of the most terrifying activities for a parent is going into a public space with a toddler that is prone to randomly running away. This toddler behaviour can be very dangerous, particularly if the environment has hard surfaces, stairs or fast moving objects.

To correct this behaviour:

Ask your toddler to stay close to you and do a few “test runs” to see how well they listen to you in busy environments. Assess how well they listen to your commands when there is a lot of action going on around them.
If they start running, give them a specific command instead of “stop”. Try asking them to stay on the grass or make a game out of it and demand they “jump on a crack” when you shout a command. Something to slow them until you can catch up.
Even though it sounds strange, you can train your toddler to skip or dance to move around in public. Turn it into a game and they get to have fun and won’t have the same level of speed that they might get while running.
If your child is still running away, keep them in their stroller for longer or even use a harness while in public.

5. Lying to You

Children learn how to lie at a very young age. It is actually a natural behaviour and children lie for a number of reasons including to establish their own identity, to individuate from parents, to get attention, to avoid trouble and to avoid hurting the feelings of others (Empowering Parents, 2015). It is important to make your child aware that the behaviour is inappropriate at a young age, because it can worsen over time and before you know it you can’t believe a word that your child says!

After you have caught them telling a few lies, sit down and explain why the behaviour is bad. Don’t punish them harshly for telling a lie, but calmly explain that children should always be honest with their parents, because lying only makes things worse. If they continue to lie, associate a small punishment to each lie, like the removal of a treat. Because your child is so young, don’t perform complex lectures and instead keep the rules very simple.

6. Whining

Whining also stems from a toddler’s frustrations and inability to communicate them sufficiently. This behaviour must be addressed because it can also worsen and carry on through a child’s teen years.

Similar to other behavioural problems, whining can usually be addressed by communicating with your toddler and determining what is making their life difficult at that time. If they are whining for no particular reason or because they can’t get their way, either use a distraction or simply ignore them for a short period.

7. Interrupting

There is nothing worse than a toddler who continually demands attention when you are talking to someone else. Your child must learn that they are not always the centre of attention and that it is impolite to interrupt other people while they are talking.

One tactic that addresses interrupting is to ask your toddler to touch your hand when they need something. Instead of constantly bickering for attention, they will simply walk up to you and grab your finger. There are also children’s books which help correct this behaviour.

Sources:

Parenting,. (2015). Ask Dr. Sears: Aggressive Toddlers. Retrieved 1 August 2015, from http://www.parenting.com/article/ask-dr-sears-aggressive-toddlers

Empowering Parents,. (2015). How to Deal with a Lying Child | Empowering Parents. Retrieved 1 August 2015, from http://www.empoweringparents.com/How-to-Deal-with-Lying-in-Children-and-Teens.php