Parenting Hack to Stop a Tantrum Becomes Viral on TikTok

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By Jo Anne Hubert , Parent Herald Dec 25, 09:45 pm

This Nashville mom informed co-parents how to handle toddler tantrums through a viral video that reached over 15 million views.

The toddler phase will always feel like the most challenging stage of parenting, as expressed by Tanay Howard, a mom and a writer of Parents.

At this phase, children's ways of communication are limited. Kids are needy, with patience being a foreign concept to them.

Thus, according to Howard, this generation of parents is lucky to have a lot of resources for gentle and conscious parenting. Moreover, their firm determination to "shape a new way of raising kids" is inspiring and motivating.

Conscious parenting

It is not a surprise that when a video about handling kids' tantrums is posted online, it goes viral as parents are interested in knowing how and trying it.

Twenty-six-year-old Alivia posted a video on Instagram and TikTok of her daughter on the verge of a meltdown, which she quickly calmed down through her "gentle parenting hack."

"I was warming up some leftovers in the microwave and it needed a little more time to get warm. Well baby girl was ready to eat and was not too happy that I needed to put it back in the microwave. Instant meltdown," Alivia narrated.

What she showed in the video was what happened after the food was placed back in the microwave.

Alivia starts running around the kitchen, and one can see the mood shift of her little toddler from going into a tantrum to observing what her mom was doing to smiling at Alivia and eventually laughing.

According to Howard, parents who have been on the receiving end of a kid's tantrum would certainly appreciate how Alivia handled her daughter's tantrum and show deep respect to her, knowing that it is not always easy to be calm and choose the "conscious parenting route" - a less reactive and a more mindful parenting approach.

The video now has 24,000 likes on Instagram, a whopping 4.5 million likes, and 15.3 million views on Tiktok.

Be calm to calm the child

Parents who can relate reacted to Alivia's video.

One commenter said they loved the video, encouraging parents with words, "We got this!" Further, this commenter shared how they have learned to distract the children with "love and a safe environment" instead of instantly responding with frustration.

On the other hand, for some viewers, the video made them remember how they grew up - being yelled at or scolded. Thus, now that they are parents, they choose to sit and talk with their kids instead, as they don't want their kids to experience what they went through.

The overwhelming majority agreed that taking the extra minute to calm oneself and consider one's response to a toddler may not come easy, yet it always pays off in the long run.

As Kids Health suggested, parents must keep calm when responding to their children's tantrums. Frustration or anger from parents would complicate things. They need to remind themselves that their job is to help their kids calm down, and they can only do that by being calm.

Alivia shared that she does not always get it right but always tries to remind herself that her daughter is only one. And, in difficult situations like tantrums, she would think about what she would have wanted her mother to do.