Category: Child Therapy

There is no particular definition of child tantrums, but you must have witnessed those sudden outbursts of anger with screams from a toddler because you denied him an ice-cream or any other less healthy and sugary treat. This sharp reaction is not entirely because of the lack of ice cream.

There is a more complex understanding of your child tantrums and what triggers them. The best way to address them and witness them becoming less and less frequent is to understand them and to use practical strategies for supportive, responsive parenting.

Tantrums in children’s psychology

In young children in the age group of 2 to 4 years, it’s very common to see tantrums. Tantrums take place when emotions become overwhelming and difficult to express. They may involve crying, screaming, and even kicking.

In children who are highly sensitive or neurodivergent, you might also notice a different set of behavioral traits that may seem more like meltdowns. Meltdowns take place due to overstimulation or sensory overload. Being able to analyse and understand child behavior will help in such a case. Even as adults, sensory overload can feel frustrating. In contrast, kids often struggle to recognize that they feel frustrated and need to slow down and rest, which can result in a meltdown or exhaustion.

Possible triggers for a tantrum

• Changes in Routine
• Moving homes
• Traveling
• Chaos
• Presence of a new person/entity
• Feeling frustrated and a Lack of Control after not getting what they want
• Physical discomfort, such as being very tired or hungry
• Overstimulation

How to Respond to Child Tantrums and Triggers

Make sure you provide a safe space, as a parent for your child to express himself. Additionally, observe what happened around the child exactly before the tantrum began. Replay the whole day in your mind on which day the big meltdown or tantrums occurred. Usually, a chaotic home or a day filled with uncertainty can trigger such an outburst.

Try to never ‘react’ to a tantrum; don’t shout back, or even shut down the tantrum with any strong sense of authority or anger.

Stay Calm and Present

Maintain your calm and steady temperament throughout the emotional outbursts in kids. The tantrum may seem far away from logical behavior to you; however, it is best to wait till the storm passes.

If you give in to the tantrum, that would be rather an encouragement to future tantrums, the kid will understand that a tantrum is a way to get things done or communicate. Actually, our goal is to let the kid ‘unlearn’ the tantrum behavior to find a solution or an outlet.

Validate Feelings – but Set Boundaries

Let your child know their feelings of frustration are valid and provide reassurance too. However, at the same time, let the child know what behavior is acceptable and what is not in a firm way, yet without any traces of anger.

You can communicate that hitting someone or threatening them is harmful and unsafe, and is not okay. Let the child know that there are always consequences to such actions in a gentle manner.

Teach Self-Soothing Skills

Teaching kids self-soothing tricks such as breathing exercises, counting to ten slowly, or using a favorite comfort toy can really help. Try giving them a stress ball to squeeze when things get tough.

The key is to practice these skills when they’re calm, so they’re ready to use them when emotions run high. If you think your child is having a higher amount of anger than normal, address the issue by getting your child anger management therapy.

It is crucial to watch your or your partner’s behavior in front of the kids. Kids are good at picking up on others’ habits or behavioral patterns. Learn to regulate your emotions and maintain a healthy and calm home for your child. Here, open communication and broadening perspective will help. While parenting, take care of your mental well-being and get proper sleep to be able to function well.

Get help from professional

In case of more frequent or intense emotional outbursts in kids, therapy can come across as a perfect solution for the child and parents. An experienced child psychologist near you can help you navigate the delicate situation without escalation; with that, you will be able to maintain a healthy household for your child. We are a team of child behavior therapists in Mississauga.

Parenting a child who experiences frequent tantrums or emotional outbursts can be exhausting, and sometimes, it can leave you questioning your own parenting capacity. Ensure you and the rest of the support system recognise that a tantrum by your child doesn’t show that you are practicing wrong parenting or that the child is being difficult.

Understanding your child’s ‘inner world’ will help you help them regulate their emotions. Therapy is helpful for children who struggle with intense emotions, as well as for parents who need support and better insight. A child therapist provides children with tools to express themselves, cope with stress, and build resilience. For families, therapy offers strategies to create a more harmonious home environment and strengthen the parent-child bond.

Resources

Children’s Anger and Tantrums – 10.248

https://newsroom.unl.edu/announce/lancasterextension/18749/101287

High sensitivity in children can appear as frequent meltdowns or tantrums. As parents, you can’t, and shouldn’t, alter the level of sensitivity of the child, however, you can support them and enable them to deal with their emotions, learn coping techniques, and grounding techniques. In this guide we will discuss about highly sensitive children and its therapy.

Is Your Child Overwhelmed Easily? Understanding the Signs of High Sensitive Childrens

Some children may show quick and more intense reactions to situations, and can get easily stimulated by loud noises and strong lights too. They may find transitions in life steeper than other kids.

These are not necessarily drawbacks; highly sensitive kids feel emotions more deeply, express deeply, and can show a higher amount of empathy. Children with a high level of sensitivity have their own set of challenges and gifts. The high sensitivity in them is due to a more sensitive, more activated nervous system.

Help Your Child Thrive — Not Just Cope

Children’s mental health is a sensitive subject; however, with licensed therapists, proper support, and awareness, one can treat the child with care. At Centre of Healing Minds, we provide specially crafted psychological help for kids in Mississauga. Our efficient team includes experienced child therapists in Mississauga.

Why Empathy and Understanding Are the First Steps to Healing

As these children feel every sensation and social interaction more intensely, they get burnout or brain fatigue easily, too. In order to help the highly sensitive children, the parents, their therapist, and teachers should understand how their mind works and how their inner world works. Children with high sensitivity can sense even the subtle change in one’s behavior, overall environment, and ethos.

Common Challenges for Highly Sensitive Children

Overstimulation and Emotional Overload: HSCs can quickly become overwhelmed by busy classrooms, loud gatherings, or too much sensory input. This can lead to meltdowns, withdrawal, or anxiety.

• Difficulty with Transitions: Changes in routine or unexpected events can be especially challenging, causing distress or resistance.
• Social Struggles: Sensitive children may be more prone to feeling misunderstood or left out, and they may be more susceptible to bullying or peer pressure.
• Internalized Stress: Because they process deeply, HSCs may internalize stress, leading to physical symptoms like headaches or stomach aches, or emotional symptoms such as worry or sadness.

Tips and Solutions for Supporting Highly Sensitive Children

1. Validate Feelings and Experiences: Allowing them to discern any of their sharp reactions will actually make them hide their feelings and eventually flatten their authenticity. Allowing a safe space where your child can express him or herself is essential in this case. Encouraging them to share their experience and opinions will give them an outlet, and thus, they won’t bottle up their emotions.
2. Teaching Emotional Regulation: Slow and deep breathing techniques, grounding techniques, and learning to slow down a bit will pace their nervous system and relax them. These solutions can be utilized through and with therapy. Breath-work includes the 4-7-8 method, where the sensitive child is supposed to inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale slowly for 8 seconds. This calms the mind and improves sleep quality, too.

Apart from that, the grounding technique also helps where the child needs to identify 5 things one can see, 4 things one can touch, 3 things one can hear, 2 things one can smell, and 1 thing one can taste. This helps them regulate stress, too.

1. Art Therapies

Creative art therapies like engaging with forms of music, painting, and sketching are a great form of expression. It allows kids to widen their talent span while it lets them process complex emotions.

• Schedule Downtime

A busy day filled with socialization followed by a thorough screen time is something completely avoidable, in the case of highly sensitive kids. To maintain their health and sleep cycle, make sure the child has regular opportunities to rest and recharge in a quiet, calming environment with ample amount of sleep and natural tranquility.

Here, overstimulation is absolutely harmful. Minimize exposure to loud, chaotic, or highly stimulating environments when possible.

• Open Communication

As parents, make sure your kids get a wholesome, welcoming, and safe environment at home and school as well. Let the child feel that their emotions and expression of the same are heard well and are never judged.

• Consider Therapy

Therapy provides a safe space for sensitive children to explore their feelings, develop coping skills, and build resilience. From breathing exercises to developing healthy coping methods, therapy can help build confidence and manage day-to-day life.

Getting help from a therapist who understands HSP children will ease the lives of the child and parents. Contact CoHM to get the best help for child mental health support in Mississauga.

Highly sensitive children are likely to be gifted with empathy, creativity, and a keen awareness of the world around them. With understanding, validation, and targeted therapeutic support, these children can learn to navigate their sensitivities.

Resources:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324417
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/zero-to-six/202202/10-traits-of-highly-sensitive-children