Toddler life jacket tantrums.....

CLB is spot on here. My son who is now 25, was the same at that age, he just didnt want to wear anything that restricted him, in any way, wearing a harness , jean type trousers, a coat, and i expect this life jacket will be the same kind of thing. However you have to make him wear it, and who cares what the neighbours think? When my son started school , he would take his uniform off 3 or 4 times before we got out the door, so i had to come up with a way to stop that happening. I rang the school and explained the situation, and i told them that the following day i was bringing my son to school and he would be naked.Next day, he got his warning whilst i got him dressed ,' if he took his uniform off, i would take him to school with no clothes on..'.He said "i dont care mummy ' defiantly , and i straped him into the car seat, with not in a stitch on and his uniform in the boot. Then the laughter soon turned to tears, as he realised i wasnt going to turn back and go home.By the time we got to the school car park he was screaming, so i politely told him, that this would be the last time he would ever take his uniform off after me getting him dressed , or else next time i would take him into the class room naked ! He begged me to get him dressed so that his class mates wouldnt see him. That was the last time he ever gave me the run around with getting dressed!....These days im a very proud Mum, hes now an officer in the Royal Navy!
 
our 2 year old refused to wear hers, we placed it on her bed every night for a week with her favourite teddy wearing it,3 days later and we couldn’t get her out of it ! 6months on and she still wears it round the house occasionally !!
 
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simonfraser said:
strap it on, walk away, they'll get over it.
look at all the attention they are getting throwing a wobbly.
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I’ll second that.

alex_m24 said:
...Krusaver(I think) do an auto-inflate from 15kg although probably still wouldn’t suit your 2 year old
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Crewsaver do a Junior air only, BUT we went on the rule that until they were good swimmers, they used a foam one which were the Crewsaver kids ones.
 
Get her to put it on and give her a "Photo shoot" posing on the boat. My daughter will do anything to be in front of a camera or on stage lol. #Diva :rolleyes:
 
CLB said:
Tantrums are easy to deal with. You simply refuse to give in and never go back on your word. I'e if you say you cannot go on the boat unless yiu are wearing a lifejacket, then stick to that rule. The best weapon in your armoury is a united front, with both parents on message, agreeing the rules and implementing them religiously. Unfortunately, it sounds like you don't have that, so I would say your two year old is not yet ready for the boat.
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It might be more that your partner isn’t ready as well.

Allowing a two year old to rule the roost is a recipe for disaster imho.

We always found that if ours started acting up and it became embarrassingly unbearable they were lifted bodily out of the shop wherever and taken somewhere to be allowed to tantrum all they liked. We made it very clear when they exhausted themselves that we weren’t happy with their behaviour etc. Walk away. With no audience the tantrum performance has no purpose. (But keep a surreptitious eye on them and their safety from behind the door.)

Toddlers will tantrum if they learn it produces results. A united front from all carers is essential.

Reward them doing well. Despite appearances they crave love and affection and my wife (Primary Head and now an education advisor and a master at behaviour management talks about ‘catching them doing good and rewarding it. ‘

MrB said:
Get her to put it on and give her a "Photo shoot" posing on the boat. My daughter will do anything to be in front of a camera or on stage lol. #Diva :rolleyes:
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Our little boy has had life jackets since he was about 6 months old.. we didn't boat with him until he was big enough for a proper life jacket which took a while being 6w premmie.. he is now 2 1/2 and loves his.. it's big and bulky and horribly hot in a Perth summer but he knows he has to wear it and especially likes going out in the baby boat (tender) with it on. He can nearly put it on on his own.

Incidentally he is not a very tantrummy toddler. His idea of a tantrum is to lie on the floor and go quiet.. which I'm happy about!

Steve
 
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