How to deal with your child’s morning meltdowns and tantrums. Some years ago, I desperately cried out for help with my child’s aggressive behavior.
“My kid started kicking me as I was trying to get him up and ready for preschool. It was a brutal morning!!”
My child’s behavior was out of control and I needed help. Can you relate?
In this post, I’ll share an example of my response to my son’s morning meltdown. Then I’ll offer some parenting strategies to end challenging morning behavior.
Hard Mornings With Ours Kids
Most parents will admit to having some crappy mornings with their kids. Unfortunately, some of us have way more experience than others. If you’re parenting a neurodivergent child, (ADHD, Autism, or any executive functioning issue) you know what I’m talking about.
Sound familiar?
- Do you need to regulate your nervous system before waking your child?
- Maybe you take an extra deep breath to gird yourself up for your child’s wake-up?
I’m referring to that “on-guard” feeling as you prepare yourself for one of two options:
- A choir of angels shines down on you as your kid has a relatively smooth transition to consciousness.
- Or you’ll encounter a full-blown attack as soon as you breathe the words,
“Good morning, Sweetie.”
You “get it” regardless of how you describe your child’s intense behaviors. Meltdowns, tantrums, screaming, or worse.
My Child’s Morning Meltdown
Yep. My son started kicking and screaming at me as I prepared him to get him ready for preschool.
Undoubtedly, it could’ve gone down in flames, but we rebounded.
Like you, I’ve learned quite a bit in my parenting journey. And that parenting education only grew exponentially with my son. Specifically, he’s a child who struggles with executive functioning challenges.
I don’t have to freak out and project years into the future. In those tough moments, I can choose to stay present and respond differently than tradition often tells us.
4 Steps to Deal with Morning Tantrums
Here are the 4 steps I use to deal with morning tantrums.
Step 1 Relationship:
Focus on connecting with your child in that moment. Take a deep breath and think,
‘What is he struggling with internally?’
Step 2 Provide Emotional Vocabulary:
Calmly verbalize what you suspect your child is feeling in that moment.
Step 3 Physical Input:
This is when you further connect by offering the type of physical input (gentle back rub) that tends to provide calm.
Step 4 Shift Attention:
Help your child cross the finish line by shifting your attention off of your child. That morning, I started talking to my son’s monkey.
These are the 4 steps of my parenting framework. I dive deep into these 4 steps in the Barely Surviving to Outright Thriving parenting course.
Recap: Morning Meltdowns
If you have a child with executive functioning issues, whether in preschool or high school, please be encouraged. These four steps work. You’ll need to tweak your approach to a teenager’s mood swings and meltdowns, but they have universal application.
You may describe your child as:
- Passionate,
- Strong-Willed,
- Highly Sensitive,
- Anxious
Meltdowns Pushing You to Your Limit?
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About the Author:
Lindsay is a trauma-informed educator with a Master’s Degree in Teaching. Her mission is to support moms to equip neurodivergent kids (ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Anxiety) to thrive as exactly who they’ve been created to be. Wait until you hear the story that led to it all…
