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Having twins is a blessing but it’s a challenge as well, especially when both babies have tantrums at the same time. This can be overwhelming for any parent and things become worse still when one of your children is winding up the other. To deal with such a situation you need to identify the reason for the tantrum first, and then calm your children down. You have to be firm, but at the same time reasonable and compassionate to help the children settle and feel safe.
Be sure to start with researching twin parenting psychology and reasons why kids throw tantrums. This will help you to complete the first step, but be prepared for the fact that sometimes you might not be able to identify the cause right away. That’s why you need to watch the children carefully whilst working to calm them down, which should help you to identify what the trigger was.
In This Post:
How to Deal with Twin Tantrums: 4 Tips for Good Parents
1. Keep your cool
The biggest mistake you can make when dealing with a twin tantrum is to lose your cool. That’s why stress management is one of the most important skills of responsible parents. Staying calm is not only good for your sanity but your children need this too to help them feel safe and secure.
Look up some breathing exercises or other stress management techniques which will help you stay focused and calm when in a stressful situation.
2. Ignore the people around you
Another great mistake which you can make when dealing with a tantrum is to give in. Unfortunately parents are as susceptible to peer pressure as anyone else. Often they give in simply to stop the child from making scene in public.
It is essential that you ignore the people around you when dealing with the tantrum. Don’t become angered or embarrassed into doing something which will have a negative long-term impact upon the children’s mindset.
Ideally you should try to take your children somewhere private when dealing with a tantrum, but this is not always possible. Therefore, you just have to focus as best you can on the kids and not be distracted by what is going on elsewhere.
3. Play distraction
One of the easiest ways to negate a tantrum quickly is to distract your babies. In this case, parents of twins can have an advantage as one distracted child might also ‘pull’ the other out of their tantrum.
Potentially almost anything can be used as a distraction. For example, you can point out trees, lights, cars, etc. You should also carry a few toys which can be used for ‘emergency distractions’ in public.
When only one of the twins is having a tantrum, for example over the other playing with a toy which they want, be sure to spend some time with them playing with a different toy and stimulating their interest together.
4. Remove children from the cause of their stress
If you do recognize the reason for the tantrum and have a chance to do so, remove the kids from whatever it is that is irritating them.
Depending upon the situation, you might be able to leave them to calm down of their own accord. Do not give in to the tears and continue with whatever it is that you are doing. This is the way to go when your kids are throwing a tantrum, such as over not wanting to eat dinner.
