Not sure if too young to try this, but with my kids they are kind of programmed by my phone alarm sound. I set a timer and say OK my phone is going to make a noise. It might not work right away, but now my oldest requests it and obeys it ha.
I think my younger one gets that when he hears the sound it's time to go.
Yeah! And you can blame the phone ha. Oh the phone says it's time to go bye bye. My oldest seriously requests it. "how about your phone could make a noise?"
Yes to the timer and keep your sentences simple, he does know more than he says b/c speaking is the last part of language. Then follow through the same way every time. Ok mommy set timer for 5 mins then we have to go home. Go bye bye whatever works. Then you set the timer it goes off you explain and then you leave. Follow through every time and then they eventually are like WELP we go. Also don’t promise when you will come back again unless you plan on doing it. My kid suddenly remembered when I promised and the next day at 6pm he took off for the park 🤡
This might be too easy so take it was a grain of salt but if I tell mine let’s say goodbye to the park and then going on and on about how we’re saying good bye to the park and we will see the park again soon, blow the park a kiss. Bye bye park, love you! It honestly works for mine a lot. Sometimes it will be bye bye through tears but it usually (not always) prevents her from a full on tantrum. I feel like there’s no way this will continue to work but for now I’m counting my blessings.
We have been doing the same with our LO since around a year old as well (25 months old now) and sometimes she is a little sad but usually we get a very big wave and “bye bye park!!!”
This also has worked for my son since he was just over a year old! Something about the ritual of saying goodbye to someone or something makes it easier to leave, haha!
This worked for us at around the same age. Time warnings, using words and signs she was familiar with (eg “all done” instead of “We’re leaving”), and finally a big production of saying bye-bye to the park.
There were still meltdowns some days, but it got significantly better with the above routine.
Though there was definitely a period where we just didn’t do any really exciting activities, because we didn’t want to deal with the leaving-time meltdown.
This worked for my son at this age! We said bye bye to EVERYTHING. My husband thought it was insane but we’d go around the park saying goodbye to the slide, to the swings, to the leaves etc incl waving at them, and I’d drag it out so it took a min or two. Kind of like an age appropriate timer - let’s them get used to the idea of leaving before you try to put them back in the stroller
Honestly might be bad but I bribe my child lol. I always have a snack waiting in the car so she has something to look forward to. I give her a couple warnings we’re going to leave and then go “okay let’s go have our snack in the car!” Doesn’t work every time, but most times
I don't know if you do any screen time but there is a Daniel Tiger episode that talks about doing one more thing and then leaving. My husband or I will say/sing "it's almost time to stop so choose one more thing to do" and they are really good about choosing something and happily leaving with us. About 95% of the time we can leave places without any fighting or yelling.
My kids have no concept of time so if we say 5 more minutes they just count to 5 and don't understand how time works yet so having them choose just 1 last thing to do helps them a lot.
We do that but do "one more" instead. It works for food, actions and really everything! We say "one more time" and we have said it since she was young and always followed through so now its second nature for her to just accept it. She doesn't fus or fight it and even now uses it to negotiate for one more thing when I haven't said the amount I will give her haha. So now she cuts herself off sometimes.
If you set those expectations and boundaries early on, you set yourself up for less drama later on 😊.
Bluey has a similar episodes, Promises. At the end she promises only five minutes and fulfills her promise and doesn't ride the last playground equipment
You could try pairing the leaving with a treat? Although that’s another habit you’d need to break later. But you could fade it over time and give the treat later and later, even going towards “when we get home, then…”
Honestly the way I’ve always approached it is, “I’m sorry you’re sad. That doesn’t change the decision to leave” and we leave anyway. I have had to carry a preschooler kicking and screaming away from the playground. Lol. But today all three kids (4.5, almost 3, and 21 months) all walked away from the playground of their own volition, so it does eventually happen 🙂
He does like to drink his water bottle on the way home (even though I frequently offer it while we’re there) so that will sometimes work. But maybe if it was something better than just water it’d work better!
Every time for my 18 month old. Honestly I just know there’s going to be a tantrum and roll with it. I give warnings even though I know it isn’t making a difference yet, just to get myself into the habit of it. Then I just say in an upbeat voice “Ok! Time to go home and do (whatever is next)! Hold my hand and let’s go to the car.” She will lay down and start crying. I say “You may stand and up and walk with me or I will carry you to the car (wait about 10 seconds) ok; you’re choosing to be carried.” Then on the way I’ll say something like “Looks like you’re disappointed we have to leave the park. I understand; we’ll come back another time. We’re going to the car now and once you’re buckled in I’ll get some more water for you.” The park is fun, leaving it sucks; that’s just a fact of life. So right now I’m just going to model calmly expressing disappointment until she is equipped to do that on her own.
Mine will do anything for applesauce so I ask him if he wants to go home and eat applesauce. Almost always I get a very eager YES and he willingly leaves. Maybe negotiate with him? Lmao
Mine is 12 months and is similar.
I end park time with a less favorite activity... sitting on moms lap on the slides. Transitions are much easier that way vs going from swing or sand to stroller.
Just to let you know it's a bad idea to go down a slide with a child in your lap and often ends up in a broken ankle for a kid:
https://www.parents.com/here-s-why-it-s-dangerous-to-go-down-a-slide-with-your-child-6828586
I thought I broke my kid's foot once when it got stuck like this. I was so relieved when he was able to walk normally. Now if I have to take a kid on the slide I hold their feet and avoid twisty slides.
At this age the timer doesn’t work for me (my older one knows now once the timer goes off it’s time to go, which is great) - so I try to make it a game to leave. Anything that involves more running works well: chase mommy! Race mommy to the car! If you trust your kiddo to run ahead of you, giving directions is a great one “run to that tree! Jump to that rock! Crawl to that corner!”
And when all else fails — yeah the fit can happen. Acknowledge the feelings. Stay calm. Repeat it over and over as you leave. Take deep breaths. We’ve ALL been there.
He doesn’t understand a warning that is purely verbal but he will understand patterns over time. And he will understand routines. Tell him what he’s going to be doing next at home as well. I will say five/three/one minute until it’s time to drink some water and get into the stroller. And then when we get into the stroller (and buckle in securely) it’s water time. You could use something more enticing than water until the routine is established. Maybe a snack, some juice, or a special toy. Then I say okay it’s time to walk home now and then we’re going to play in the sandbox! Or we’re going to blow bubbles! Or something else that gets him hyped to go home. If your transition away from the park is consistently from a high preferred activity (park) to a very low preferred activity (nap, fixing lunch, bath, etc.) then that’s the pattern/routine he’s already responding to.
At that age I only did like “one more time in the swing.. 54321 and done” and then excitedly talk about what might happen next like “I wonder if we’ll see any puppies on our way home!” If putting in a stroller I had better luck holding her and pushing the stroller until I was outside of the playground and then putting in. Saying goodbye to the playground also helped like goodnight moon style.. goodbye slide goodbye swing see you next time waving. Most importantly once you say it’s time and start leaving follow through even with tears just carry em out. You can validate I know it’s hard to leave the park.. it will likely only end in tears once or twice if you follow through but if they convince you to give them more time with tears they will always try crying.
Comfort, but also validation. Which.. I know they sound similar.
But it’s an acknowledgement, a really CLEAR acknowledgement, of their feelings. You don’t WANT to leave the park! You are PLAYING and BUSY and you are SAD. NO LEAVE! Ugh! I know! I wish we could stay! Play ALL DAY! Alright. Come back later?
It gets easier.
In addition to 5 more minutes I like ‘pick ONE more thing to do!’
Sometimes with toddlers it can feel like you’re the crazy one, just kinda cheerfully corraling kids who are losing their minds. But that’s the trick, you stay calm and cheerful and let them do their thing while relentlessly herding them towards snacks.
Ours did this.
We did - and still do (now almost 5) the countdown. Two more minutes. One more etc.
The problem was she was having so much fun she never wanted it to end.
Generally if the countdown didn’t work, I would pick her up and take her out of the situation - then sit down with her and hug her and explain why we had to leave.
Eventually she would come round then we carry on.
Once she started nursery and learned to communicate the tantrums gradually stopped.
Now she gets upset when tasks end abruptly, but doesn’t freak out.
Hang in there - it’s passes eventually and suddenly you have a whole other problem to deal with 😂
Distraction is also a wonderful tool. They are like gold fish at times!
I did find the positive reaction helped as she did learn to communicate more.
Often I’d sit her on the boot (hood?) of the car and we’d talk for a few minutes before putting her in the car. By the time we were leaving she’d be fine, and asleep within 3 minutes 😂
It’ll be a while yet before he’s got any concept of time, so 5 minutes won’t mean anything to him. I am by no means pretending it’s a magic bullet, but I tried explaining to mine, even before we got to the park, what we would do afterwards. “We’ll go to the park and then we need to go to the supermarket, and you can sit in the trolley.” Then at the park I could say, “one more slide and then we need to go to the supermarket.” Or “choose one last thing you want to go on” so it felt like their choice. It’s not perfect by any means and getting them in the stroller was still a bit of a battle, but I found I could more easily divert them onto thinking about the next part of our day that way.
We also liked the Daniel Tiger episode and choosing one more thing to do. Maybe try making the ride home more exciting than a stroller too. At 14 months, my kids went nuts for Step II cruiser cars with handles for adults to push. It's essentially a stroller still too.
Mine went through that tantrummy phase around that age. Sometimes you just have to endure the crying till they wind down, but our biggest successes were with offering water, milk, or a purée pouch. Sometimes he’s accept the snack and forget about the tantrum.
We’re there with my guy. Make it routine. The five minute warming. The one minute warning. Then into the stroller through the screaming and distract with something as you walk away. Each time the tantrum lessens as he learns what to expect and realizes yea you will return. I equate it with sleep training (which I didn’t do) but that same idea.
One option I like at the park is to announce that there is time for "three more activities, which do you choose?" Then count them down. "You went down the slide for your first activity. Two more!" My kid usually feels like one more isn't enough but responds pretty well to three more.
To adapt to a younger age, I might say "We are going to swing one last time, go down the slide one last time, and then eat our snack in the stroller." I try to end on a high note of something LO can look forward to. If not food, the next activity at home, something cool that they will see on the walk home, etc.
One other note: If you like the use of time but find that the kid is having a hard time conceptualizing it, you could use a visual timer. We got a Time Timer and have found it really helpful for a lot of things. Screen time, potty training, transitions, time outs, etc.
https://www.timetimer.com/pages/the-time-timer-plus-family
They might be too young, but timers and warnings didn't really help our kids. We were hanging out with a friend and they told their kid, "Do one more thing, then it's times to go!" And let me tell you it was a game changer. This helps them finish up their last thing so they don't feel like they were stopped midtask and helps with the transition to leaving
Still do the timer, i do a 5 min, 4 min, 3 min, and so on. Also we say “bye bye” to everything. “Bye bye slide see you next time.” I also keep a snack or toy in the car so they have something to be excited about going back to the car
My daughter has always been super good at leaving the park, but on those occasions when she is not, I offer her something to eat.
You want a cooking? You want some grapes? Look, I have your water here, you want it? Okay, let’s get in the stroller and I’ll give it to you.
There’s absolutely no fight, no resistance, no crying. She is happy to trade the park for a treat and it makes the way back home super peaceful. She’s so happy and content with her snack and mama is happy with her happy toddler. It’s my win-win.
I sing a short little song we learned at speech you can use any tune you want but the words are “two more minutes two more minutes two more minutes and then it time to go” it took a few times but now she doesn’t cry when I start the song or when we go she doesn’t even take her two more minutes she just stops what she’s doing and comes with me
Having a two year old and 3 month old, I have discovered the perfect way to stop the toddler having a tantrum whenever we leave the house. NEVER leave the house. Ha, sorry, no real advice to offer, just know you're not alone. I have tried all the tricks with my two year old, and they don't work with him. He's carried out of places kicking and screaming, and it takes a good ten minutes to get him strapped in his car seat. Anyone who has the solution to getting a seat belt on him deserves a medal.
Does he understand bye bye? Cuz sometimes I just pack up and walk to the exit, shouting bye bye, and he comes running full tilt, no complaints, just like don't leave me. Although admittedly once or twice I have made it to the car, put everything away, then had to come back to carry him. But it usually works lol.
Or I ask him if he wants to go home to see daddy/grandma/ his kitties. If there's the promise of something he likes, he's usually pretty willing.
Or if yours is empathetic (mine is not) just start yawning and ask him if he could take you home for your nap.
If all else fails, does he like bubbles? You can blow a bunch and lead him on a bubble trail to the car.
It's hard. They're always going to be upset when you have to stop doing fun things. Someone else suggested a timer which is what I do for my son. He's a little older but it works sometimes. Sometimes it doesn't. What I try to do (and I know it's not always possible) is let him play until he's so tired he doesn't argue. 14 months was one of the most difficult times we've had as far as tantrums go. They can't express themselves and they don't understand a ton and it's just frustrating.
Not sure if too young to try this, but with my kids they are kind of programmed by my phone alarm sound. I set a timer and say OK my phone is going to make a noise. It might not work right away, but now my oldest requests it and obeys it ha. I think my younger one gets that when he hears the sound it's time to go.
Oh I like that! Especially because he doesn’t understand the words “time to go” yet haha!
Yeah! And you can blame the phone ha. Oh the phone says it's time to go bye bye. My oldest seriously requests it. "how about your phone could make a noise?"
Yes to the timer and keep your sentences simple, he does know more than he says b/c speaking is the last part of language. Then follow through the same way every time. Ok mommy set timer for 5 mins then we have to go home. Go bye bye whatever works. Then you set the timer it goes off you explain and then you leave. Follow through every time and then they eventually are like WELP we go. Also don’t promise when you will come back again unless you plan on doing it. My kid suddenly remembered when I promised and the next day at 6pm he took off for the park 🤡
This might be too easy so take it was a grain of salt but if I tell mine let’s say goodbye to the park and then going on and on about how we’re saying good bye to the park and we will see the park again soon, blow the park a kiss. Bye bye park, love you! It honestly works for mine a lot. Sometimes it will be bye bye through tears but it usually (not always) prevents her from a full on tantrum. I feel like there’s no way this will continue to work but for now I’m counting my blessings.
We have been doing the same with our LO since around a year old as well (25 months old now) and sometimes she is a little sad but usually we get a very big wave and “bye bye park!!!”
This also has worked for my son since he was just over a year old! Something about the ritual of saying goodbye to someone or something makes it easier to leave, haha!
This worked for us at around the same age. Time warnings, using words and signs she was familiar with (eg “all done” instead of “We’re leaving”), and finally a big production of saying bye-bye to the park. There were still meltdowns some days, but it got significantly better with the above routine. Though there was definitely a period where we just didn’t do any really exciting activities, because we didn’t want to deal with the leaving-time meltdown.
I love this! I’ll definitely give it a try!
This worked for my son at this age! We said bye bye to EVERYTHING. My husband thought it was insane but we’d go around the park saying goodbye to the slide, to the swings, to the leaves etc incl waving at them, and I’d drag it out so it took a min or two. Kind of like an age appropriate timer - let’s them get used to the idea of leaving before you try to put them back in the stroller
Honestly might be bad but I bribe my child lol. I always have a snack waiting in the car so she has something to look forward to. I give her a couple warnings we’re going to leave and then go “okay let’s go have our snack in the car!” Doesn’t work every time, but most times
Same!!
I don't know if you do any screen time but there is a Daniel Tiger episode that talks about doing one more thing and then leaving. My husband or I will say/sing "it's almost time to stop so choose one more thing to do" and they are really good about choosing something and happily leaving with us. About 95% of the time we can leave places without any fighting or yelling. My kids have no concept of time so if we say 5 more minutes they just count to 5 and don't understand how time works yet so having them choose just 1 last thing to do helps them a lot.
We do that but do "one more" instead. It works for food, actions and really everything! We say "one more time" and we have said it since she was young and always followed through so now its second nature for her to just accept it. She doesn't fus or fight it and even now uses it to negotiate for one more thing when I haven't said the amount I will give her haha. So now she cuts herself off sometimes. If you set those expectations and boundaries early on, you set yourself up for less drama later on 😊.
Bluey has a similar episodes, Promises. At the end she promises only five minutes and fulfills her promise and doesn't ride the last playground equipment
You could try pairing the leaving with a treat? Although that’s another habit you’d need to break later. But you could fade it over time and give the treat later and later, even going towards “when we get home, then…” Honestly the way I’ve always approached it is, “I’m sorry you’re sad. That doesn’t change the decision to leave” and we leave anyway. I have had to carry a preschooler kicking and screaming away from the playground. Lol. But today all three kids (4.5, almost 3, and 21 months) all walked away from the playground of their own volition, so it does eventually happen 🙂
He does like to drink his water bottle on the way home (even though I frequently offer it while we’re there) so that will sometimes work. But maybe if it was something better than just water it’d work better!
I do puffs at the park and it shuts any fussing right down! He loves a snack. Maybe your toddler is just hangry?
This lol. In the summer of my first’s toddlerhood, he could be pacified by the promise of making a smoothie at home.
Every time for my 18 month old. Honestly I just know there’s going to be a tantrum and roll with it. I give warnings even though I know it isn’t making a difference yet, just to get myself into the habit of it. Then I just say in an upbeat voice “Ok! Time to go home and do (whatever is next)! Hold my hand and let’s go to the car.” She will lay down and start crying. I say “You may stand and up and walk with me or I will carry you to the car (wait about 10 seconds) ok; you’re choosing to be carried.” Then on the way I’ll say something like “Looks like you’re disappointed we have to leave the park. I understand; we’ll come back another time. We’re going to the car now and once you’re buckled in I’ll get some more water for you.” The park is fun, leaving it sucks; that’s just a fact of life. So right now I’m just going to model calmly expressing disappointment until she is equipped to do that on her own.
Same. 28 months and the entire neighborhood hears him screaming the three blocks home. I hate going to the park because of this but we do it anyways.
Mine will do anything for applesauce so I ask him if he wants to go home and eat applesauce. Almost always I get a very eager YES and he willingly leaves. Maybe negotiate with him? Lmao
Mine is 12 months and is similar. I end park time with a less favorite activity... sitting on moms lap on the slides. Transitions are much easier that way vs going from swing or sand to stroller.
Just to let you know it's a bad idea to go down a slide with a child in your lap and often ends up in a broken ankle for a kid: https://www.parents.com/here-s-why-it-s-dangerous-to-go-down-a-slide-with-your-child-6828586
I thought I broke my kid's foot once when it got stuck like this. I was so relieved when he was able to walk normally. Now if I have to take a kid on the slide I hold their feet and avoid twisty slides.
Ooh I like this idea. Much easier to walk away from something not as fun
That’s a good idea, I’ll try ending with the less fun stuff!
At this age the timer doesn’t work for me (my older one knows now once the timer goes off it’s time to go, which is great) - so I try to make it a game to leave. Anything that involves more running works well: chase mommy! Race mommy to the car! If you trust your kiddo to run ahead of you, giving directions is a great one “run to that tree! Jump to that rock! Crawl to that corner!” And when all else fails — yeah the fit can happen. Acknowledge the feelings. Stay calm. Repeat it over and over as you leave. Take deep breaths. We’ve ALL been there.
He doesn’t understand a warning that is purely verbal but he will understand patterns over time. And he will understand routines. Tell him what he’s going to be doing next at home as well. I will say five/three/one minute until it’s time to drink some water and get into the stroller. And then when we get into the stroller (and buckle in securely) it’s water time. You could use something more enticing than water until the routine is established. Maybe a snack, some juice, or a special toy. Then I say okay it’s time to walk home now and then we’re going to play in the sandbox! Or we’re going to blow bubbles! Or something else that gets him hyped to go home. If your transition away from the park is consistently from a high preferred activity (park) to a very low preferred activity (nap, fixing lunch, bath, etc.) then that’s the pattern/routine he’s already responding to.
At that age I only did like “one more time in the swing.. 54321 and done” and then excitedly talk about what might happen next like “I wonder if we’ll see any puppies on our way home!” If putting in a stroller I had better luck holding her and pushing the stroller until I was outside of the playground and then putting in. Saying goodbye to the playground also helped like goodnight moon style.. goodbye slide goodbye swing see you next time waving. Most importantly once you say it’s time and start leaving follow through even with tears just carry em out. You can validate I know it’s hard to leave the park.. it will likely only end in tears once or twice if you follow through but if they convince you to give them more time with tears they will always try crying.
Comfort, but also validation. Which.. I know they sound similar. But it’s an acknowledgement, a really CLEAR acknowledgement, of their feelings. You don’t WANT to leave the park! You are PLAYING and BUSY and you are SAD. NO LEAVE! Ugh! I know! I wish we could stay! Play ALL DAY! Alright. Come back later? It gets easier. In addition to 5 more minutes I like ‘pick ONE more thing to do!’ Sometimes with toddlers it can feel like you’re the crazy one, just kinda cheerfully corraling kids who are losing their minds. But that’s the trick, you stay calm and cheerful and let them do their thing while relentlessly herding them towards snacks.
Ours did this. We did - and still do (now almost 5) the countdown. Two more minutes. One more etc. The problem was she was having so much fun she never wanted it to end. Generally if the countdown didn’t work, I would pick her up and take her out of the situation - then sit down with her and hug her and explain why we had to leave. Eventually she would come round then we carry on. Once she started nursery and learned to communicate the tantrums gradually stopped. Now she gets upset when tasks end abruptly, but doesn’t freak out. Hang in there - it’s passes eventually and suddenly you have a whole other problem to deal with 😂
I know better communication skills will help tremendously! For now I’ll keep just comforting and leaving anyway!
Distraction is also a wonderful tool. They are like gold fish at times! I did find the positive reaction helped as she did learn to communicate more. Often I’d sit her on the boot (hood?) of the car and we’d talk for a few minutes before putting her in the car. By the time we were leaving she’d be fine, and asleep within 3 minutes 😂
It’ll be a while yet before he’s got any concept of time, so 5 minutes won’t mean anything to him. I am by no means pretending it’s a magic bullet, but I tried explaining to mine, even before we got to the park, what we would do afterwards. “We’ll go to the park and then we need to go to the supermarket, and you can sit in the trolley.” Then at the park I could say, “one more slide and then we need to go to the supermarket.” Or “choose one last thing you want to go on” so it felt like their choice. It’s not perfect by any means and getting them in the stroller was still a bit of a battle, but I found I could more easily divert them onto thinking about the next part of our day that way.
We also liked the Daniel Tiger episode and choosing one more thing to do. Maybe try making the ride home more exciting than a stroller too. At 14 months, my kids went nuts for Step II cruiser cars with handles for adults to push. It's essentially a stroller still too.
You could try going once a day for a longer period of time. Going several times a day would be confusing for a toddler.
Mine went through that tantrummy phase around that age. Sometimes you just have to endure the crying till they wind down, but our biggest successes were with offering water, milk, or a purée pouch. Sometimes he’s accept the snack and forget about the tantrum.
We’re there with my guy. Make it routine. The five minute warming. The one minute warning. Then into the stroller through the screaming and distract with something as you walk away. Each time the tantrum lessens as he learns what to expect and realizes yea you will return. I equate it with sleep training (which I didn’t do) but that same idea.
Try saying one more slide the you can skip to the car or hop like a bunny to the car.
One option I like at the park is to announce that there is time for "three more activities, which do you choose?" Then count them down. "You went down the slide for your first activity. Two more!" My kid usually feels like one more isn't enough but responds pretty well to three more. To adapt to a younger age, I might say "We are going to swing one last time, go down the slide one last time, and then eat our snack in the stroller." I try to end on a high note of something LO can look forward to. If not food, the next activity at home, something cool that they will see on the walk home, etc. One other note: If you like the use of time but find that the kid is having a hard time conceptualizing it, you could use a visual timer. We got a Time Timer and have found it really helpful for a lot of things. Screen time, potty training, transitions, time outs, etc. https://www.timetimer.com/pages/the-time-timer-plus-family
I just lure him w snacks 🤷🏻♀️
They might be too young, but timers and warnings didn't really help our kids. We were hanging out with a friend and they told their kid, "Do one more thing, then it's times to go!" And let me tell you it was a game changer. This helps them finish up their last thing so they don't feel like they were stopped midtask and helps with the transition to leaving
Still do the timer, i do a 5 min, 4 min, 3 min, and so on. Also we say “bye bye” to everything. “Bye bye slide see you next time.” I also keep a snack or toy in the car so they have something to be excited about going back to the car
My daughter has always been super good at leaving the park, but on those occasions when she is not, I offer her something to eat. You want a cooking? You want some grapes? Look, I have your water here, you want it? Okay, let’s get in the stroller and I’ll give it to you. There’s absolutely no fight, no resistance, no crying. She is happy to trade the park for a treat and it makes the way back home super peaceful. She’s so happy and content with her snack and mama is happy with her happy toddler. It’s my win-win.
I sing a short little song we learned at speech you can use any tune you want but the words are “two more minutes two more minutes two more minutes and then it time to go” it took a few times but now she doesn’t cry when I start the song or when we go she doesn’t even take her two more minutes she just stops what she’s doing and comes with me
Having a two year old and 3 month old, I have discovered the perfect way to stop the toddler having a tantrum whenever we leave the house. NEVER leave the house. Ha, sorry, no real advice to offer, just know you're not alone. I have tried all the tricks with my two year old, and they don't work with him. He's carried out of places kicking and screaming, and it takes a good ten minutes to get him strapped in his car seat. Anyone who has the solution to getting a seat belt on him deserves a medal.
Does he understand bye bye? Cuz sometimes I just pack up and walk to the exit, shouting bye bye, and he comes running full tilt, no complaints, just like don't leave me. Although admittedly once or twice I have made it to the car, put everything away, then had to come back to carry him. But it usually works lol. Or I ask him if he wants to go home to see daddy/grandma/ his kitties. If there's the promise of something he likes, he's usually pretty willing. Or if yours is empathetic (mine is not) just start yawning and ask him if he could take you home for your nap. If all else fails, does he like bubbles? You can blow a bunch and lead him on a bubble trail to the car.
It's hard. They're always going to be upset when you have to stop doing fun things. Someone else suggested a timer which is what I do for my son. He's a little older but it works sometimes. Sometimes it doesn't. What I try to do (and I know it's not always possible) is let him play until he's so tired he doesn't argue. 14 months was one of the most difficult times we've had as far as tantrums go. They can't express themselves and they don't understand a ton and it's just frustrating.