Hysterical child

[bellemylove]

I have a son that will turn 3 end of April and 1 year old girl.  Last couple months, my son is very hard for me to handle.  Everytime he is on Timeout, he cries, sceams and yells.  That is not new but today, we went to the store.  As soon as we hit the store, he saw a candy so he told me he wants a snack.  I told him that we are not getting a candy becasue we are having lunch soon at home.  Then he start screaming and yelling at the store.  I told him if he is not going to stop, he is getting a timeout but he did not stop.  It was very imbarrasing.  While he is on timeout in his carseat in the car, he creamed and yelled and my daughter start crying as well.  I heard from my friend that to make the child calm down, I should get out of his sight so I left all the windows and left.  I hide and watched from far away.  Less than a minute, 2 ladies walked by and told me that he is hysterical and it is not good to leave him that way.  I went back to the car and drove home but he was screaming all the way home.  He does not listen to us, he tells us No and he does not take anything serious.  I don't know what to do anymore.  Please help me.

[SFmonsterdark]

Stay strong, parenting is hard work.  Keep the timeouts, but most important be consistent with it.  This is hard as we are only human, but it will go a long way.

[mammo]

Tell him that he will stay in time out until he stops crying, and stand by this, and no more talking to him until he stops screaming, totally ignore him, don't even look his way.  When he stops then ask him if he knows why he was in time-out and he will know.  Ask him to apologize and then a big hug and an I love you.  Be consistent, never give in to him.  As for the candy, I would tell him that he can get the candy, and hold it until after lunch, at which time he can eat it.  If at any time he  tries to eat it, tell him if he can't wait until after lunch and be a good boy, you will take the candy away and do it.  Then you must follow thru, he will learn real quick that you mean what you say. He will learn that when he behaves appropriately, good things happen, and visa-versa. The same for screaming on his way home, time-out as soon as you get home, no arguing.  Take away things for punishment, TV, a favorite toy etc.  But also reward him for good behavior with stickers, and such.  My grandson just turned 3 in January and sometimes does the same thing, but my daughter will take away whatever he wanted and leave it at the store, and if he screams all the way home, he has to stay in his room until he stops crying.  He then will come out on his own and apologize, and she has the talk with him.  If he wants candy, she will use it as a bribe to keep him quiet thru shopping and dinner, as he knows after he eats he gets the candy. Hope this helps...