I knew the day would come when Gabriel had his first tantrum... I just hoped that it would be someday far from now when he was like 4... or 20... a mom can hope can't she? But that was not to be the case as Gabriel had his first tantrum the other day at nearly 8 months old.
Gabriel was having a bad day to begin with. He was just plain crabby. He had a small melt down when he was eating his baby food. Every time I would give him squash, which I know he likes, he would cry. The second I would give him apples he would stop crying again... until I gave him a bite of squash and it would start all over again. One time he was crying and he waved his hand which hit my hand and caused me to drop the spoon full of squash, he thought it was rather funny and stopped crying and went to laughing... until I offered him the spoon again and he started crying all over again.
Later we were sitting at the kitchen table and Gabriel wanted to grab my plate instead of playing with his toy, I grabbed his hand and who would of thought that me saying one simple word, "no", would cause a major meltdown. He just started screaming and getting so upset, he was also doing that thing that babies do where they tense up their whole body so it feels like your holding a 20 pound block of wood around that is screaming. I thought it would only last a minute at most, usually when I tell Gabriel no he may cry a little but he gets over it pretty fast cause I give him the mommy look and he stops, but that was not to be the case either.
To be honest, Josh and I didn't know exactly what to do, Gabriel had never done this before. He ended up getting a time out in his bed. He was so upset that he was having a hard time catching his breath. After I knew that he was done with his screaming I had to read him a book and cuddle him so he would relax and breath. Maybe some people would consider me reading him a book and cuddling him after his fit would be rewarding bad behavior, but I didn't know what else to do, he couldn't breath very well and he needed to relax somehow.
Now I know there may be many more tantrums to come... but I can still hope that he will hold off until he's like 20, right? A mommy can only dream!
2 comments:
It's not rewarding bad behavior, it's letting them know that you still love them. We always cuddle with our girls AFTER they have given in. Once they are willing to give us a kiss/say sorry that's when we know that they are done being mad (otherwise they won't). But we also don't let them out of time out until they are ready to do that. And then they get a hug and kiss from us too.
I agree with Heidi, it's not rewarding bad behavior. Rewarding bad behavior is giving in to their tantrums. I know it's hard to hear them cry and have a fit, but just remember they're a big bundle of all the emotions we have but they don't know how to control them. :)
Tantrums are no fun. :( but you should be glad that he's 8+mo. old before he had his first...most parents aren't that lucky. :)
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