Kimberly P

Thank you for posting this! I can relate to the gentle, gentle, lose it cycle! We found scripts from Dr Becky Kennedy (Good Inside) and from Big Little Feelings to be really helpful. Also, I can sometimes (10% of the time but working on it!) stop and take a breath and wait a minute to respond when something isn’t dangerous. This really helps me to shake off the last frustrating moment and not let them accumulate which usually leads to the “losing it” cycle. I also think about something Dr Becky says about being gentle (validating, not shaming, teaching coping tools in calm moments, modeling coping) AND sturdy (keeping a holding boundaries, discerning when to stop a behavior and when to offer support and help instead). I feel like sometimes I lean too much on gentleness and want to fix my toddler’s feelings when what I need to do is support him and let the emotion pass and then teach coping and emotion regulation during calm moments. Know you are not alone and so many toddler parents are in the same boat and fumbling through this phase together!