Erin has developed a new phase of having a huge meltdown whenever we have to leave anywhere? e.g. play and stay, friends houses, soft play, nanny's etc etc

I try giving her 5-10mins warning and I praise her on how good she has been whilst we are there, but when its time to leave she just breaks down throws herself on the floor and screaming the lot!!! its so hard because I normally am carrying the carseat with Fearne in so its really hard to physically leave anywhere and makes me a bit reluctant to go.

Thanks

My 3 year old does the same and it's driving me mad as I have the car seat issue too and don't have enough hands to drag him away and no amount of bribery seems to work.
Recently I've just been telling him that I'm leaving without him and say goodbye to him and start to leave. It feels cruel but it works, he never lets me go very far before he comes running after me and is as good as gold afterwards. I get some funny looks from other mums but I'd rather do that than physically drag him out!

thanks for your reply. Its a nightmare isn't it, what makes it more embarassing is she shouts I don't want to go home, I think my god what must people think her home is like for her to shout so much lol!!

I will deffo give your advice a try but knowing Erin she will call my bluff and stay without me !!!

Yeah,I've been expecting that same response!
Ds is the same, he just yells 'I don't want to go to mummy's house'. I like to pretend that I'm just a benevolent aunt or something and that I'm taking him back to his mum's. Don't like to admit that I'm the ogre he's so keen to avoid!

Oh it is such a nightmare isn't it!? With Abby I just scoop her up and carry her under one arm, and then get the car seat in the other hand (only had to do that once though - but that's because we haven't been out much with Milly). I find that as soon as we are on our way she calms down very quick - It's like she thinks "oh well, that tantrum didn't work" and gives up.

Sometimes it helps to put a positive spin on things, like rather than saying "it's time to go" say something like "let's go home and get a buiscuit" or "lets see how many cars we can see in the car park" I also keep an emergency pack of chocolate buttons in my glove box - so I can use that as a bribe too. (Abby will do ANYTHING for choc choc!)

Also - this sounds obvious, but toddlers are more likely to have a meltdown when they are hungry, thirsty, or tired. Quite often we have come unstuck when Abby has been so happy playing that I have forgotten to offer her drinks and snacks, and it's not always easy to spot when she is getting tired - when she's so busy doing other things.

That's probably no help at all - but it is what works for us! Good Luck!

Nx

MrsC06 - that made me laugh!

Nikkiandneil, that is a really good point about making sure she is not hungry thirsty etc, because when we go to the play and stay I never remember about food and drink and when we go to soft play erin doesn't have time to drink or eat!!! so its a good thing to bare in mind. I have thought about the chocolate buttons thing but didn't really want to get into that iykwim but i guess there is no harm in keeping them in the car as a fail safe in case it all goes terribly wrong.

I was watching supernanny US this morning and I thought I wander how she makes it look so god damn easy !!!

Lol, I was going to suggest the food thing too! Always have a stash of cartons and snacks in the car to bribe them both with!!!!!
Xx