Many new moms love the book “The Happiest Baby on the Block” by Dr. Harvey Karp. However if your kids are a little older, I also recommend Dr. Karp’s “The Happiest Toddler on the Block: How to Eliminate Tantrums and Raise a Patient, Respectful, and Cooperative One- to Four-Year-Old.”
If you are worn out and frustrated from timeouts and other mainstream techniques that just don’t do anything for your toddler behavior, this book will be a breath of fresh air. The techniques, including “time-ins,” make a lot of sense.
His basic outlook is that toddlers are little cavekids with the right side of their brain, which deals with language and logic, not very developed, and the left side (the highly emotional side) calling most of the shots.
Dr. Karp divides toddler behavior into three categories — “green light” behaviors (positives that should be encouraged), “yellow light” behaviors (whining and other annoying behaviors), and “red light” behaviors (totally unacceptable behaviors that are dangerous or break family rules). He then gives a tremendous amount of advice on how to deal with each of these three types of behavior.
If you are looking for a guide to get you through the Terrible Twos and oftentimes even worse Threes, check out this book at your library or local book store.
Love this picture used with the article! Boy, does that ever remind me of my first daughter!! LOL