Are you frustrated with yelling at your toddler because he doesn’t listen to you? Check out these tips on how to get your toddler to listen without yelling.
If you are aware of the toddler two's then you know how difficult it can get at times. After my daughter turned two years old, I started to notice a huge difference in her attitude. It took me some time to accept the big change. My sweet little girl was suddenly crying and being adamant over things she wanted and it had suddenly become so hard to get anything done with her.
There would be small instances like she would resent wearing a jacket when we would head out. If I would force it on her, then she would cry and whine for long. Another similar moment was when she wanted to eat candy during lunch. And not giving it to her only meant that I had to listen to her cry and scream.
What do you do in these cases? How can you discipline your kid without yelling? I have faced many stressful situations like these and it’s so hard to not get frustrated and stop your urge to yell.
Well, to be honest, there is no winning when it comes to dealing with toddlers. But there are definitely ways on how to react to a situation like these that can help you keep your calm and sanity in check and in turn discipline your toddler to listen.
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8 Effective tips to make your toddler to listen and stop you from yelling
Try to keep your calm as a parent
You must be a little surprised to find this as my first tip, as trying to find your calm as a parent is the main reason you are reading this post. The reason I have this as my first pointer is that I have noticed that in the last few terrible two sessions with my daughter I have been able to control my anger and keep my calm.
This is because, for all the last few times, I have stayed calm in my mind. My past few outbreaks were bad only on the days when I was mentally stressed either with work or household tasks. Lately, I have started to stay positive and keep away from stressful situations and also I keep telling myself in my mind that I am happy and this is just bad timing and everything will work out.
Just changing the way I think has been magical. My reaction to all the outbreaks has been so positive lately and I haven’t really had the urge to yell to discipline my daughter. So moms, as a first step try and stay calm and look at the brighter side of the picture.
Talk to your kid to help him understand the situation
Once you are in a cranky situation with your toddler who is just adamant about something that he needs, try and talk to him. Speak to him and help him understand why you are against it. Why he should not cry.
Well, all kids are different, many might not even be ready to listen to you. But there is no harm in trying. This will also help open positive communication with your kids and eventually, they will start to understand your point of view.
Try to divert his attention
This is the tactic I usually use with my daughter and I have had success with it many times in the past. When she would cry and not ready to listen, I would suddenly show her a car driving outside or sometimes do something else that she enjoys like painting, etc. This tactic has worked as well as not worked a few times with my daughter. It depends from situation to situation.
Turn of all distractions
Sometimes although you are trying to reason with your toddler but they are not listening. It could be because they are so many things around them that they are completely distracted.
At the time they are being unreasonable, they have so many thoughts running through their mind that they are unable to concentrate and listen to you.
Hence, in situations like these when you are getting zero response from them it is best to take all the distractions away. You can either take away the toys, clean the area or if there is noise from the TV or music system turn that off. Do whatever that can help you get your kid’s attention!
Explain to him that there will be consequences
It is important that your kid understands that if he disagrees with you there will be consequences that he will have to face. Sometimes, telling your toddler what the repercussions of his actions will be if he does not listen can actually motivate him to you.
For example – The other day when my daughter disagreed to wear a jacket outside while it was snowing, I told her that if she does not listen then she cannot take her favorite toy with her outside. Something about me explaining to her the consequence worked, and she agreed to wear the jacket.
Follow on the consequences
If your kid still disagrees to listen, then follow with the consequence. If as a parent you are always giving warning and not doing anything afterward, your kid will start to take that for granted and not react to it.
Hence, it is important to follow through the consequences, so that they know that if they don’t listen they will be punished. Also following through the consequences will make them think twice before throwing another fuss like that next time.
Give time out to your kid
If your kid is still adamant and not ready to listen, give him a time out. If things go out of control on my end, I usually give my daughter time out for some time, where mostly she cries but still, she is not that adamant eventually and listen. Also giving her time out helps me calm down and think about what I would do next to control the situation.
If listening to your toddler cry is unbearable for you, then tune it out by listening to some good music with your earphone on. It does help to calm the situation.
Walk away
Finally when the situation is still uncontrollable and you cannot stop your urge to yell, then just walk away. Even if you have to do that multiple times, it is better than giving in to anger and yelling.
When you walk away from the situation you get some time to calm your mind and think more effectively as well as your kid might be worried that you are not there and listen to you.
If you keep yelling at your kids, there is a high probability that they will get used to it and tune you out. Hence instead of giving in to the urge to yell at your kid, instead try and adopt these positive parenting tactics so that you can put your point across your toddler strongly in an effective way and he learns to listen to you.
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