Chucking a wobbly, throwing a tanty – whatever you call it, toddlers are world champions at it, and Aussie toddlers in particular are teeny tantrum experts!

New research has revealed five million toddler tantrums are being thrown in Australian homes every day, that’s an average of four toddler tantrums a day!

A survey of 1000 Australian parents with children aged between one and five-years-old has lifted the lid on tantruming tots, revealing that seven in 10 parents of toddlers deal with at least one ‘power struggle’ a day, with one in five parents experiencing more than five daily tantrums.

Even though toddler tantrums are something most parents are struggling with daily, the survey also found that many parents feel frustrated, embarrassed and guilty when they happen in public.

When are most toddler tantrums happening?

According to the parents that were surveyed, the majority of tantrums happen at mealtimes (55%), followed followed closely by bedtime and when getting toddlers dressed.

Another big tantrum trigger is trying to get toddlers to leave the playground, and getting the tots in and out of the car.

What can you do about toddler tantrums?

While we’re most likely to take on the blame and frustration for toddler tantrums, the experts say we need to go a little easier on ourselves as parents and take control of our own emotions first.

“When you’re listening to safety instructions before a flight, you’re told to apply your own oxygen mask first, before the children,” said Paediatric Psychologist Amanda Abel.

“The same applies when managing challenging toddler behaviour. One of the most challenging moments for a parent can be when their child is expressing big feelings, but when our own emotions impact our response to the feelings of our child, our attempts at managing tantrums are not effective.”

The experts say we should take comfort from the research, in knowing that we’re not alone when it comes to toddler tantrums.

“It’s important to recognise that toddlers are supposed to be testing boundaries and seeking independence – it’s an intrinsic part of their development,” explained Paediatrician Daniel Golshevsky (Dr Golly).

“Normalising developmentally appropriate behaviour is an important part of reassuring parents and reducing the concern that parents of toddlers often have around their child’s behaviour.”

To help steer through the tricky toddler years, Dr Golly and Amanda Abel have created the Toddler Toolkit. It’s a parenting program that’s aimed at empowering parents with the tools they need to help them navigate the toddler years with practical tips to help with the common (and totally normal!) toddler behaviours we all encounter.

The self-paced toolkit covers 35 scenarios that may trigger challenging toddler behaviour, and gives parents tips to help de-escalate the situations.

How many tantrums is your toddler having every day? Let us know in the comments below!

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