Nurturing Positive Behaviour

The toddlers in our lives are a far more complicated bunch then they would appear.

- Behaviour Specialist, Deirdre Holland Hannon

They often talk and act a lot older than their age and sometimes even lull us into a false sense of, not only maturity, but of emotional understanding. They even have us believing their comprehension is more developed than it is. This is totally normal and all part of that toddler rollercoaster. For me, the greatest delusion of all was when I had my second son just as my first turned two. All of a sudden overnight this two-year-old looked like an adult, so capable, so able, so grown up! When expectations change sometimes they are set too high. When expectations are raised above their abilities we can expect tantrums, meltdowns, aggression, screaming and no doubt tears! We’ve set our little toddlers up for failure. Toddlers can feel like a mystery from one day to the next fighting over which colour plate and tantruming over what seems like the silliest of things. Here are some areas we as parents can nurture, in an attempt at reducing some of these toddler frustrations and in turn hopefully nurturing some positive behaviours.

Communication