Visit our sister sites:
  • All You
  • Coastal Living
  • Cooking Light
  • Health
  • My Recipes
  • Southern Living
  • Sunset
  • This Old House
Real Simple | Life Made Easier, Every Day
  • food & recipes
    • Browse All
    • Recipe Search
    • Recipe Galleries & Favorites
    • Cooking Tips & Techniques
    • Shopping & Storing
    • Tools & Products
    • Ingredient Guide
  • home & organizing
    • Browse All
    • Organizing
    • Cleaning
    • Decorating
    • Home Improvement
    • Gardening
    • Green Living
    • New Uses For Old Things
    • Cleaning 101
  • beauty & fashion
    • Browse All
    • Hair
    • Skin Care
    • Makeup
    • Makeovers
    • Clothing
    • New! Finish the Look Fashion Game
    • Instant Beauty Makeover Tool
  • holidays & entertaining
    • Browse All
    • Holidays
    • Entertaining
    • Gifts
    • Real Simple Gift Guide App
    • Holiday Decorating Ideas
    • Easy Home Entertaining
    • Holiday Entertaining
  • weddings
    • Browse All
    • Flowers
    • Cakes & Catering
    • Ceremony
    • Dress & Attire
    • Etiquette
    • Budget
    • Guests
    • Planning
    • Registry & Gifts
    • Real Weddings
    • Checklists
  • family & work
    • Browse All
    • Health
    • Money
    • Family
    • Life Strategies
    • Technology
    • Travel
    • Etiquette
    • Books & Entertainment
    • Money Management Tips
  • checklists
    • Food
    • Beauty & Style
    • Household & Finance
    • Health & Wellness
    • Travel
    • Cleaning
    • Family
    • Organizing & Home Improvement
    • Holidays & Entertaining
    • Weddings
  • blog
    • Browse All
    • Adventures in Chaos
    • Conversation Starters
    • Daily Thought
    • New Products
    • Simple Tip
    • Where We're Clicking
  • magazine
    • Browse All
    • Subscribe
    • Table of Contents & More
    • Road Tests
    • Daily Finds
    • Newsletters
    • Real Simple Products
    • Real Simple Offers
    • Real Simple Rewards
    • Back Issues
    • Give a Gift
  • VIDEOS
  • MAKE 1 SIMPLE CHANGE
  • NO-OBLIGATION BOOK CLUB
  • REAL SIMPLE OFFERS
  • SUBSCRIBE

Back-to-School Survival Guide

  • Email
  • Print
  • Save
Messy little red-headed boy with pasta sauce all over his face Annie Schlecter Page 1 of 9

How to Handle Changes in Your Child’s Behavior

By Ingela Ratledge

Has your child gone off the rails? Experts explain how to get him back on track.

Throwing Tantrums to Get What He Wants

The problem: A two-year-old who learned that a screaming fit usually resulted in a toy. “My son would let loose these truly bloodcurdling screams that would go on until one of us would give him whatever it took to make that awful noise stop,” says Rachel O’Connell of Ashland, Massachusetts. “One day he screamed so much he lost his voice.”

The fix: A nifty disappearing act. As soon as her son launched into one of his fits, O’Connell and her husband would calmly and promptly remove themselves from the action. “We’d go into another room right away, but we’d tell him he could come find us when he was finished,” she says. “Knowing that we weren’t going to get riled up or be around did the trick eventually. Within a week, the screaming sessions were down to less than a minute.”

The expert take: “When you say, ‘I’m not going to stay in the room with you for this,’ it’s removing attention from the tantrum, which says, ‘This is not acceptable,’ ” says Rex Forehand, a professor of psychology at the University of Vermont, in Burlington, and a coauthor of Parenting the Strong-Willed Child (McGraw-Hill, $16, amazon.com). “Toddlers might erupt like Mount Vesuvius, but then they have to vent and let go of upset feelings,” says Robert A. MacKenzie, a family therapist and the author of the Setting Limits book series (Three Rivers Press, amazon.com). Stuck in Target? You can’t leave a screaming child in housewares. Forehand suggests picking up the child, leaving the store, and putting him in the backseat of the car―alone―while you stand outside with the keys. Wait a few minutes; if the tantrum stops, let him out and go back inside.
Next: Taking Hours to Go to Bed
Skip to Daily Finds slides.
Messy little red-headed boy with pasta sauce all over his face
Woman reading to children
Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Flat-screen television
Little boy holding a teddy bear and waving
Children's messy bedroom
Broccoli florets, chopped ham and peas

Most Popular Galleries

  • Blue present with silver stars

      29 Great Gifts for Grads

  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

      50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life

  • Kristen Jones Connell with her dad Billy Jones

      36 Unique Gifts for Dad

Hot Topic

“Who cares if it’s still only spring? We’re already thinking about our first summer swim—and we want our readers to be prepared. So when you’re in and out of the pool, use these surprising tips from...” - Julia Edelstein
More From

How To Protect Your Hair at the Pool

What do you think about this article? Share your own solutions and ideas

View Earlier Comments
Advertisement

What's Hot

How To: Tie a Necktie

Learn How to Tie a Tie

A step-by-step guide to tying the knot.

  • 10 Free Ways to Make Charitable Donations
  • Huffington Post Home: 10 Inspiring Closets
Computer deskNew on the Web
Secrets to Small Space Entertaining from Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam
For years and years my husband and I lived in an apartment that was fairly avera...
from The Nest Blog - Home Décor, Cooking, Money, Health & Sex News & Advice » house & home
Dating advice: Who you should (and shouldn't) listen to
When you start dating a new woman, everyone becomes a critic: She's great, she'...
from FOXNews.com
Vote in Our 2013 POPSUGAR 100 Bracket!
It's time for the 2013 POPSUGAR 100 bracket! Over the next few weeks we nee...
from POPSUGAR Home
HuffPost Tastemakers: A Meal At Nopi
Ottolenghi is a lucky man. Read more: Tastemakers , Ottolenghi ...
from Tastepartner on The Huffington Post
WHOA: The Coolest Way To Update An Old Fridge
Light fixtures can be changed. Colors can be painted over. Ugly floors can be co...
from Home on Huffingtonpost
My Houzz: Remodeling Modernizes a Neoclassical Dutch Home (15 photos)
In 1908 in Haarlem, the Netherlands (yes, New York City's Harlem neighborhood w...
from Houzz
  • Browse RealSimple.com:
    • Ask Real Simple
    • Contests & Sweepstakes
    • Games
    • Makeover in Minutes
    • New Uses for Old Things
    • No-Obligation Book Club
    • Photo Contests
    • Quizzes
    • Road Tests
    • Shop, Prep, Cook
    • Real Weddings
    • Tools, Videos, Checklists
    • Site Map
  • Customer Service:
    • Contact Us
    • Customer Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your California Privacy Rights
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Gift
    • Real Simple Products
    • Real Simple Offers
    • Real Simple Rewards
    • Back Issues
    • Media Kit
  • On the Go:
    • Real Simple iPadRead Us on Tablet
    Get our Apps:
    • No Time to Cook
    • To-Do Lists
    • Gift Guide
  • FREE Newsletters:
    • Weekly Tips
    • Daily Finds Newsletter
    • Keep-It-Together Checklist
    • SEE ALL
    Time Inc. Lifestyle Brands
  • Connect With Real Simple
    • Pinterest
      JOIN US
    • Facebook
      LIKE US
    • Twitter
      FOLLOW US
    • Google Plus
      FOLLOW US
    • YouTube
      WATCH US
    • Instagram
      FOLLOW US
  • Food & Recipes
  • Home & Organizing
  • Beauty & Fashion
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Weddings
  • Family & Work
  • Checklists
  • Blog
  • Magazine
Real Simple Home and Lifestyle Network
Copyright © 2013 Time Inc. Lifestyle Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.