New Toddler Taming: A parents’ guide to the first four years

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I would highly recommend Toddler Taming, which gives a lot of insight into why children behave and react as they do.' -- The Times Whether they’re just being a bit hyper or downright devilish, a calm and soothing hug will help. You may not feel like hugging them if they have just torn the house down or broken a precious belonging, but sometimes toddlers get frightened by their own feelings. A hug won’t fix your favourite vase, but it can fix a frazzled toddler in about five seconds flat. Change their environment After watching childcare theories come and go, Dr Green has found that the crucial elements of raising happy toddlers don’t change in line with the latest fad, but his focus has now widened to prevention as well as cure. After all, once you know how to anticipate a toddler’s reaction, you are better prepared to steer your child towards a peaceful solution – and peace is often the most valued commodity in any house! This is your last resort. Sometimes if your little one is at home and not hurting themselves or anyone else, it is worth just letting them go. Don’t get too stressed if you can’t fix the situation. Sometimes they just need to let it out. The moment you stop worrying so much about getting your toddler to calm down, they often just miraculously do it!

First there was the Toddler Taming phenomenon - now this is the sequel every parent has been waiting for... What we expect is ridiculous, we expect that after the 1st year are children should magically be capable of doing and responding to things like a 5 year old. Light-hearted, humorous and authoritative, New Toddler Taming is a must for family sanity! By the internationally renowned bestselling author and paediatrician Dr Christopher Green, and full of clear, accessible advice, case studies and useful tips and ideas, this book will make parenting seem a whole lot easier...and enjoyable! All done in a down-to-earth, practical and yet humorous way, this book is a must-have for anyone raising children.Do you have a toddler in the house? Are they an adorable cherub one minute, terrifying gremlin the next? We’ve all been there! The good news is that the toddler beast can be tamed and you don’t have to lose your mind in the meantime! We do not respect their right to express theirself, to explore theirself, to explore their surroundings or to experiment. This is something which sounds obvious, but we all know how hard it is to do! When your tot is running around the house like a maniac and making noise to rival a football crowd, you want nothing more than to yell at them to stop! More often than not, getting yelly only make matters worse. Children feed off your energy, so it is important that you stay calm if you want your child to calm down. So self-control is the key here, ladies! Give them a cuddle

Some of the later chapters seem to do little more than pay lip-service to topics, such as lone-parenting, working-parents, ADHD, grandparents. I am not sure they really add much value to the book, but then again, perhaps that is because these are not areas of concern for me. Keep in mind that I've read the 2016 updated version so my review will be based on that one specifically not his previous editions. Information is logical so far however as a distinction student in Animal Behaviour I'm mightily unimpressed with the line: Many parents wonder how the sweet, chubby baby which gurgles happily at them for the first twelve months changes so suddenly into a bellowing, tantrum prone, heel drumming, carpet biting toddler. What's gone wrong? Whose fault is it? What can be done about it?Get down on your knees to their level, gently place your hands on their shoulders and talk calmly to the little out-of-control one. Passing on calm energy can help return them to the little angel that you know and love. Which brings us to our next important point… Important: Stay calm yourself This book has helped me realise that we are in too much of a rush to make our children socially acceptable, we try to hard to make them eat & drink without mess, to play without us, to make friends and bonds, to use the toilet and so much more before they have even been alive for 3 years. If you don’t have a car or can’t drive, taking your tot for a walk in their stroller will have mostly the same effect. Going for a leisurely stroll will give you a break from running around after them. Fresh air is always a wonderful thing, as is exercise! And again… if a nap happens to take place, even better! Waste some of that energy!

Mr Green seems unaware of the oxymoron he created when he wrote that, no animal that is provoked to breaking point is deserving of being branded savage and their owner told to rudely "get rid" of it. Want more toddler taming tips? Make sure to read our previous article about the life lessons you can learn from toddler tantrums. Other than that HUGE mistake the book so far is pretty sensible... but not anything particularly revelationary and I've heard the advice more or less before from my own mum; "ignore the tantrum and then when they realise they are only wasting their own time and could be doing something better instead they will stop."

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If your little one is reacting in a less than desirable way, it’s time for them to stop. So if they’re playing in the kitchen cupboard with the pots and pans and it’s starting to sound like a heavy metal band, get them to play with their toys in their bedroom instead. Crayon drawing moving from the paper to the walls? Ditto again. Distraction not only shifts their attention, but hopefully also changes their mood. Food glorious food!