Coping with a Store Temper Tantrum is
a big challenge for parents

Store Temper Tantrum: Be prepared to change your plans.

You will often find that rebellious behavior comes out of the blue, when you least expect it. Often it is when you are in a hurry and need to get somewhere quickly that that you find yourself dealing with temper tantrums. Children pick up on this easily and will dig their heals in.

Sometimes you will have no choice, but if at all possible, change your plans. An abrupt change of plan, and no outing, is enough to deflate the most determined of children. You will not have to do this often before they will learn that winding you up at the moment of departure is inadvisable.

Take care not to give them what they want: your attention. “We won't go out now after all, Mummy is going to do the washing up” will make the change of plan disappointing.


Coping in the Supermarket.

Stores are often a stressful place at the best of times. Going round with children with rebellious behavior can make a difficult situation impossible.

• Do make use of the child seat in the trolley. Our children have ridden in those until they were practically bursting out of them! Many 5 year olds will still fit! This prevents your child from running away from you, grabbing items from the shelves, or other unacceptable behavior.
  
  
• Again, if things go wrong, be prepared to abort the trip. No-one really wants to abandon a trolley load to take a howling child out, but in our experience that is a better solution than continuing to shop with a toddler tantrum or howling child in the middle of a store temper tantrum!
  
  
• Mostly, a store temper tantrum happens because your child has asked for something and you have said 'No'. First, ask yourself if this is reasonable. Your child sees you loading the trolley up full of goodies for yourself. Should they not be allowed to do the same? (a child of this age will not fully understand the purpose of shopping).
  
  
• Is there something you could give your child, towards the beginning of the shop, which would satisfy them? It is possible to open a packet of something or other and eat in the shop as long as you present the empty packet at the till to pay for it! A healthy option would be to buy some pre-weighed grapes. As long as the price has been put on the bag before your child eats any then you can still pay for the grapes she has eaten!
  
  
• If this is not possible, or if the crisis happens in a clothes store instead, be prepared to leave immediately. However annoying this may be to you, you will be making the point that this is unacceptable behavior. If you try to battle it out in the shop, your child is likely to win as he or she will not have the same concerns about onlookers!