Dealing with tantrums

[HELPihavea2yrold!]

My DS is 2 years old and has recently starting throwing tantrums. He is currently being assessed for autism by his paeditrician and starting early intervention this year. His tantrums are getting quite bad and he is throwing plates/ anything in reach at me and trying to harm himself ie hitting head on tiles/walls. I am at a loss on how to deal with these tantrums. DS is completely non-verbal atm so is getting extremely frustrated that he can't communicate with me. I have tried time outs but they result in him becoming hysterical and kicking walls. DS is very strong and I am unable to hold him during these tantrums to stop him from hurting herself. I do not have a partner either who can help me. Please suggestions on what to do. I try to ignore him but I dont want him injuring himself and his last tantrum he threw a dinner plate at me.

[aquarius]

you poor thing, that's good he is starting early intervention soon. do you use picture cards with him? they can help him communicate if he is non-verbal. you can get free ones here:
http://www.do2learn.com/picturecards...ards/index.htm


is there a Triple P Stepping Stones parenting course in your area? google it and see if you can attend a course, it is a 6 week course of seminars once a week for parents of children with a disability, with tips on how to manage behaviour like tantrums. i did it last year and it gave me some good ideas.

also this probably won't work with dinner plates but if he throws a toy or something of his at you, you can tell him 'you threw that at me, it's going on top of the fridge' and he doesn't get his toy back for a while. my DD is a bit older but it didn't take her long to understand that if she threw something at me, there was a consequence and her toy goes on top of the fridge. she still does it, but not so often (she is autistic, diagnosed when she was 3).

[HELPihavea2yrold!]

Thank you. We have flash cards here and I am also teaching him some makaton signs. Will look into those parenting courses. Hes such a happy little man most of the time but hes so stubborn! Everything in our kitchen is kept high with a lock but he just climbs and rips the lock off. He has incredible strength already. Want to deal with these tantrums now because I know in a few years time, I may not have the strength to hold him when hes throwing himself around. I do take away his toys for period of time when hes throwing them at me. Might have to look into buying a playpen for him so Ive got somewhere safe to put him when hes throwing a tantrum.

[aquarius]

oh yeah i forgot the makaton signs, they are good hey! the one for 'finish' is a godsend for us because DD hates stopping whatever she's doing and moving on to something else, she seems to tantrum less when we use the makaton sign!

wow your little fella sounds like a mini superman! playpen sounds good idea xx

[Lovemyfam]

My son use to throw bad tantrums he is ASD/ADHD and what I would do is take him to a chair or couch put him in between my legs wrap my legs around his legs and my arms around his arms holing them to his sides or chest, I would quitely talk to him, let him know I know he is upset and to calm down, the pressure helped calm him down and it worked. I am not a fan of timeouts for young kids because its too isolating the whole family is together and then they get sent out. You can also try time ins I did those with my daughter she had a corner of the room with a bean bag and books, stuffies etc, when she needed some time I would send her there until she felt better and they worked great