How to deal with an irascible child?

You will be able to understand whether your child is hot-tempered or not when he or she is 2-2.5 years old. At this age, he or she begins to express his or her feelings and reactions verbally, that is, with words. And then it is very important to tell the child which of his or her reactions is correct and which will harm him or her and others. Why does a child become hot-tempered and what can be done about it?

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Is irascibility a disease or a deviation?

Neither, doctors believe. Most likely, it is the child's inability to express their emotions. Emotional education is an important part of adults' work, which they do not always know how to do. After all, adults are not taught to educate their emotions. Therefore, their children can grow up hot-tempered - otherwise they simply do not know how to express what is on their minds.

What is a child's irascibility? This is a behavioral reaction when a child can show anger, capriciousness, tearfulness for the slightest, even frivolous reason. A child can flare up because of a careless phrase, word, even a look. Moreover, adults at this time think that nothing offensive was said. A irascible child shows more helplessness and inability to cope with the situation than aggression. Irritability is more a cry for help, expressed in such an absurd and loud form. This is very inconvenient for communication, because both the child and his environment suffer from the irascibility of the child.

Vulnerable natures are more likely to be hot-tempered. Hot-temperedness is more characteristic of sanguine and choleric people than of phlegmatic people. Melancholic people are also prone to outbursts of anger, tearfulness and depression. Thus, a child’s hot-temperedness also depends on his temperament.

What is he like - a hot-tempered child?

If parents are unsure whether their child is hot-tempered or not, it is worth paying attention to some features of his behavior.

• The child gets irritated very easily and immediately expresses his dissatisfaction by screaming or being capricious.
• After any, even minor irritation, the child does not think about what to say, but immediately acts, and very loudly and abruptly
• A child who promises to be hot-tempered is overly active even before he has learned to walk. His motor skills are fast, sharp, the child can often cry. And when such a baby grows up, he can throw tantrums. Falling on the floor and kicking it with his feet.
• A child who is hot-tempered pays more attention to movements than to thinking.

How to correct a child's irascibility?

You can correct a child's irascibility with confident behavior and explanations of how to express this or that emotion. Fairy tales, where each character has their own role, work very well on children of primary school age. Let one of the characters in your fairy tale be hot-tempered, so that the child can see himself from the outside. And then let this same character behave normally, and the child will see the difference in the results.

At a very early age, you need to patiently explain to your child what is good and what is not. The child must learn clear boundaries: what behavior is effective, and what will only bring trouble to him and others. This will help the child better navigate society.

You can't yell at a hot-tempered child. You need to let him calm down and quietly but firmly explain what behavior is expected of him and why.

You can't force a child to shut up, you just need to distract him from the source of irritation, calmly switching to another activity. When the child calms down, it is important to find out why he got so angry and excited, and offer him options for behavior. If the child learns to express his emotions in a normal tone, this will give him the opportunity to continue to talk about what he achieves with his behavior, what worries him, without irritation.

How to help a child cope with irritation?

There are many fun and effective psychological methods that allow a child to vent their emotions without getting angry. You can try several of these methods and thus find out which one works best for your child. Note: these psychological "keys" should be used precisely when the child is angry and irritated, because in calm moments they are of little use.

"Tear up the anger"

When a child is angry, you can draw his anger on a piece of paper (or let him draw it himself) and give it to him, let him tear it up. You need to explain to the child that this is how he is tearing up his anger, irritability, hot temper, and coping with them. Anger can be drawn as a muzzle with teeth.

"Kill anger with a pillow"

A playful pillow fight should help relieve anger and even make the child laugh. This will relieve tension and naturally turn irritation into play.

"Name-calling"

To relieve tension, you can call each other names. But not really, offensively, but with jokes and gags. For example, call a child an apple, and he calls you a cat in response. Such a humorous game gives the opportunity to change the energy - from destructive to humorous.

By splashing out their emotions, the child is fighting their own irascibility. And if you help them, the child will definitely succeed.