Description

Babies hit many milestones before they turn into toddlers, first steps, first foods, first words. Helping your infant through these stages can be a lot of fun, and sometimes a challenge, especially during one notorious stage in life - the terrible twos.

Transcript

Female: The Forte family is like many families across America. Parents Drew and Amy like to take their two-year-old daughter Sarah on walks in the neighborhood. But a two-year-old can go from smiles to screams in an instant. Drew: It's the ultimate curse when your parents say “you're going to have one dislike you, you’d do”. Female: Sarah is right in the middle of what’s commonly known as the terrible toos, a time when tantrums are common. Amy: Around age two or so, children are really beginning to explore their world. They’re learning and they’re developing independence. But the problem is, they don’t really have the vocabulary or the means to express their feelings and so forth. Sarah is very honoring little girl. She’s very headstrong, very independent. Female: Sarah likes to assert her independence through her wardrobe choices and nicknames for certain things like her swimming suit. Drew: She calls it a blue. I don’t know where she came up with that. One day we bought her a bathing suit and ever since then, it's been I want to wear my blue. No matter the temperature is or where we are, she wants to wear her bathing suit. Female: Because Sarah loves her swimming suit so much, you could imagine it's a challenge to get her to change clothes. Pediatricians say parents have to pick and choose their battles and offer options. Rebecca: What you don’t want to say is “Johnny, do you want to take a bath?” because they answer probably “no”. But the approach might be “Johnny, we’re going to take your bath, would you like to walk on upstairs to get in the tub or do you want me to carry me to carry you upstairs?” So you give him some type of choice no matter. That helps him exert some of their independence. Female: And if a tantrum starts, ignoring your child or trying to distract her maybe the best way to deal with it. Whatever you do, don’t reward her for her I'll behavior. Rebecca: Offering an award for stopping the tantrum like getting a piece of candy or whatever, always serves to reinforce having more tantrums because if he have a tantrum, I'm going to get something good if I have a tantrum and I stop. Female: Many parents of two year olds will identify with the idea that toddlers can be both sugar and spice. Rebecca: She’s the poster child for the terrible too’s. She really is. Of course now she’s been an angel, she’s asleep. Female: When it comes to dealing with a two year old, one thing is for sure. Drew: Patience is the key. If you don’t have any patience, you're not going to be able to get through and that’s what’s getting us through, it's patience.