How I stop my 1.5 YO's tantrum in under 3 minutes as a gentle parent

@kendraworth

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SoundTikTok sound · original sound - kendraworth

Why it worked

The video provides a practical, empathetic, and effective strategy for managing toddler tantrums, resonating with parents seeking gentle discipline methods. The creator's calm demeanor and clear explanations, combined with relatable scenarios, make the advice actionable and trustworthy.

Summary

A mother demonstrates her gentle parenting approach to managing her toddler's tantrums. She calmly enforces boundaries, validates her child's emotions, and redirects misbehavior by offering acceptable alternatives like stomping or throwing soft items, ultimately de-escalating the situation without giving in or ignoring the child's feelings.

Structure

1Child has a tantrum wanting daddy.
2Parent calmly explains daddy is working.
3Child throws cup, parent enforces boundary.
4Parent explains logical consequences and empathy.
5Child continues to be upset, parent offers physical redirection.
6Child redirects energy into running and playing.
7Parent redirects child's throwing energy to soft items like pillows.
8Tantrum resolves with play and bonding.

Original caption

I’ve had a lot of people ask for real life tantrum examples with younger toddlers, and how I label & validate emotions at this age. It’s much more simplistic than what I do with my older kids, but it’s the same basic formula… Establish the boundary, label their feelings, empathize, and redirect their misbehavior. I get a lot of pushback for teaching my kids to punch the couch instead of a person (“how about teaching NO hitting??”) or to throw pillows instead of throwing breakable things, but this video proves that IT WORKS. Even a 1 YO can learn the difference between items they CAN and CANNOT throw & they can learn to redirect themselves after enough repetition. It may look like I was calm on the outside, but I was getting heated on the inside & my brain didn’t even think of the redirection to throw pillows. But because I have given my 1.5 YO that redirection so many times, she took all of her aggressive energy and went to throw pillows on her own! I was able to give praise, positive reinforcement, and connect with her INSTEAD of punishing and shaming. She still learned the lesson & didn’t get the cup back, but she also learned to turn to a positive replacement behavior. The thing about aggression and externalizing behaviors is you can’t truly extinguish them, but you can redirect those urges into positive outlets. I actually WANT my kids to let out their feelings physically because it’s very healthy, I just want them to do it in a way that won’t hurt anyone. Make sure to follow me for all things REAL LIFE evidence-based gentle parenting & head to the link in my bio or hhsleep.com for more parenting & no-tears sleep training resources 💗 #momtok #gentleparenting #parenting #reallifeathome #caughtoncamera Real gentle parenting Old school parenting Strict parenting Trying gentle parenting Toddler tantrum Viral tantrum

More from @kendraworth

On-screen text

How I stop my 1.5 YO's tantrum in under 3 minutes as a gentle parent *1.5 YO whining & crying* "I want daddy!" Daddy's just doing some work *loud thud of her cup* Did you just throw that cup? You don't get to throw cups. No, cup is cup is done now. All done. Gentle parenting is STRICT parenting All done. No more cup 1.5 yo: want wawa and milky!! It just means that you enforce rules without yelling, hitting, or giving unrelated punishments No more milky. You threw the cup. 1.5 YO whining: I want milky!! I only use logical consequences Throw cup-> lose cup No more milky. *1.5 YO crying* I know. I know it's so sad I don't give in to make the whining/crying stop, but I do give empathy *1.5 YO crying* You threw the cup. Now the cup is all done. I keep repeating the boundary, even if it makes her upset, to make sure that she understands *1.5 YO crying* You threw the cup. The cup is all done. *starts to throw other kitchen items* We're not throwing other things either No. Everything you throw, Mommy takes away. No throwing. No, no. No, no. No, no. 30 seconds later.... Are you just having a moment on the floor? Yeah? You feeling better? *1.5 YO grunts back* Mad? So I label her feeling again because that helps move children out of their reactive part of the brain back into the frontal lobe She was a little calmer, so I started to give redirections so she could release physical energy in an appropriate way You can stomp or you can clap. Do you wanna clap together? *1.5 YO stomps into the living room* And then she started running, which I encourage for that release Whoa! Good running. Running is good. You can run. Why don't you run in that room and run back really fast? Ready? Go, go, go! Run! Woo! Good running. Woo! Good running. *1.5 YO laughing in the next room* What are you doing? Oh! Are you having fun with the cushion? And then I saw that she was throwing pillows without any prompting from me! Are you throwing pillows? Are you throwing my pillows monkey? I just didn't think of it in the heat of the moment & I'm so proud that she did! Now you're having so much fun?? So I actually misspoke when I said "no throwing" before and I should have said "no throwing hard things" Can you throw more pillows? I like when you throw pillows. We can throw pillows. No throw cups. No throw cups. Throw pillows. Yes! Yes! Pillows are soft. Yeah. Come throw a pillow at me. Let's throw pillows. Ready? Whoa! Okay. Ready? Hello? Pillow! Throw! Throw! You get it Okay. Ready? Ready? Pillow? Woo pillow Look, Is the pillow soft? Is it soft? Yeah. We CAN throw soft. Oh, and you're jumping off of it. The tantrum is over so FAST! And I did it without giving in, ignoring, or making her suppress her feelings That's a good idea. Look, soft We CAN throw it. Ready? Ready? It doesn't hurt. Soft, soft, soft, soft Soft, soft, soft, soft Can I throw it? One, two. One, two. Two I want pat pats