Unfortunately you can’t stop your toddler from acting out, as it can be part of their communication. Toddlers may be able to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad but they have lots of emotions and do not always know how to process them. They need to learn how to process their emotions, which takes time to develop. You could see your GP for advice.

I agree it’s attention seeking. I would therefor totally ignore negative behaviour (look away, no eye contact no emotional expression of any kind and become neutral and boring) and as soon he behaves positive switch your button into positive; praise him, give attention thank him for being kind, ask something politely, giving sweet hugs, being soft and gentle etc
Other then that you can try to be more pro active instead of reactive. What happens before he escalates and try to be a step ahead and distract and redirect, give choices and a sense of control

it is an attention seeking device, and I agree ot very nice!. but happens to us all so not alone. Things I tried with mine and grandkids too, is distract there attention put on some music and you dance and sing, I have even pretended to do tantrum thing. Silly as it sounds sometimes works too as they are distracted by something different Mum’s or Nana’s are not supposed to do. Hope it helps, if you can stay cool too hard thing I know but it works too. Picture of one of my sons (the calm one too) the other still can tantrum do

Thanks for posting – I think I’ll be needing this soon!

I don’t think you do stop him. It’s a developmental stage that he needs to go through. You can change how you react to it though. Maybe look into either the parental stress centre or the 1,2,3 magic approach. good luck.

Have you had any luck with any advice below?

maybe he is jealous – have you tried sitting down and having a chat to him?

how did you go?

Is he getting any better yet?

How is your son now?

What did you end up doing?

I hope some of the advice down below helps.

He might be jealous that a new baby will so be arriving, try and give him the attention that he needs before bub arrives

Sometimes naughty corners don’t work for some children, try taking a toy he likes away from him.

Wanted to know aswell, thanks for posting.

It’s a stage that most kids go through, especially when a new baby comes on the scene.

Hi, my eldest boy did the same at about the same age. I tried time out, naughty seats etc. The best thing that worked was when I started to pretend to cry and be really hurt. He quickly realized what he was doing was wrong and came up to give me big hugs telling me how sorry he was. He is now nearly 19 and the most sweetest boy any mum could have. By the way, good luck with your new bundle of love.

Perhaps a rewards program, give him rewards for being good, rather than punishment for being bad:)

Lots of cuddles and stories. Have naps/rests together, for your sake! Try to limit tv, so hard I know, but I still find it affects my sons behaviour is such a negative way. Your little one is probably worried about the changes he can feel in the air. Try to reassure him with more love than he ever knew was possible, show him that no matter what he does, you love him yo the moon and back. I have five children. Practice reading to him while you pretend to feed the bub, some of mine would sit next to me while I breastfed and pretend to breast feed their ‘babies’ (my sons did this but not my girls!). Good luck!

Another option is that we purchased our son a cabbage patch newborn baby. He used to breast feed his baby when I fed his sister. Please do not judge gender rolls here. He wants to be involved and imitate what you are doing also. You can change their nappies and dress them just like you do. Gives him another focus if the helping mummy isn’t working. Don’t strip his room, he won’t understand, also he is too young for time out. I agree that no attention is the best option and small rewards when behaving well such as stickers or small lollies. I used to keep some in my handbag and when we were out if the kids were behaving ( we have 7) they are rewarded with a sticker, small treat, but not if they ask for it. I always make a point to praise good behavior and this mostly works better than disciplining whilst tantrums are occurring. Encourage his helpfulness and good behavior as much as you can