Anticipate and prevent times when your child is most likely to have tantrums.For instance keep mealtimes regular if being hungry makes him/her cranky.If you know it is hard for your child to control him/her self in a shop, avoid long shopping trips with your child.Let your child make simple choices as often as he can.If you are going out,the child does not have a choice whether to accompany you or not,but he can choose which shoes he wants to wear.Do not enter into a power struggle.Firm but patient handling of the child's temper-tantrums is necessary through distraction.If stubbornness continues over long periods despite the methods used above, you need to find out if something is bothering the child at home or at school and then consult a pediatrician/child psychologist.We have to distinguish between punishment and discipline.While we do not want to break a child's spirit by punishing him/her, it is important to teach him/her self-control through discipline.Punishment is a negative consequence for not following rules,and is a very small part of discipline.
