Every parent has had one of these days. Your kid is cranky and fussy all day long. It doesn’t seem like there’s any way to stop the whining. You’re counting down the minutes until bed time so you can get some relief. When you find yourself in the middle of one of these days, follow these steps.

Step 1: Take a breath

You aren’t a bad parent because your child is irritable. It happens to everyone. You’ve had bad days yourself, but you’ve learned to control your emotions well enough to keep them from bothering other people. Your child doesn’t have that sort of emotional maturity at the moment. He or she isn’t behaving poorly to get back at you or to punish you. Every child has a bad day now and then.

Step 2: Root out the problem

In most cases, there is something that is bothering your child. Often they don’t have the language or communication tools to tell you exactly what’s wrong because they don’t quite understand it themselves. For example, your toddler might be able to tell you if his foot hurts (because he stubbed his toe), but he won’t be able to articulate that thunder kept him awake all night and now he’s sleep deprived, or that spending two hours in the car made his body ache.

Step 3: Don’t forget the naps

At some point in your parenting days, you’ll make this mistake: “My kid seems fine and we really have errands to run, I bet he’ll be OK without a nap.” Suddenly the crankiness starts when you’re in line at the bank or trying to check out at the supermarket. Don’t neglect nap time. Be home for it where they usually nap. 30 minutes in the car is not a nap.

Step 4: Maintain the routine

When you have a calm and pleasant baby or toddler, you can make slight changes to the daily routine without much fuss. But when you’re on the brink of a tantrum all day, you have to keep everything as predictable as possible. No sudden trips out. No change to lunch or snack time. If you watch Doc McStuffins every day at 3, have the remote in your hand at 2:55.

Step 5: Don’t give in

When you’ve dealt with three hours of whining, it will be tempting to give in to any demand to keep your child quiet and content for a few minutes. What’s one more cookie? Sure, tear paper out of that notebook. Want to walk on the couch? Go for it. But acquiescing to these things just creates a bigger problem down the road where you’ll have to correct these behaviors.

Do you have any tips for dealing with a cranky baby or toddler?

Written by Alicia Overby - Founder & President of Baby Elephant Ears

Alicia is wife, mother, and creator of Baby Elephant Ears. Baby Elephant Ears was created out of parental concern, not financial desire. In 2005, when their second child was an infant, he cried all the time and just couldn't seem to get comfortable.

After seeking advice and suggestion from the medical community and alternative medicine, they eventually ended up in the chiropractors office where their baby was successfully treated for asubluxation, discomfort most likely the result of the strain during labor, which was now being exacerbated by the normal lack of infant neck strength. Only proper neck, head, and back alignment would offer him relief. When they couldn't find a product to give their baby the necessary support, Alicia took matters into her own hands and crafted her own infant support pillow. The first Baby Elephant Ears was born!

For more information, visit www.babyelephantears.com.

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