Mother Praised For Method That Thwarts Toddler Tantrums Whenever They Arise

May 10, 2023 by apost team

Being a mom is no walk in the park. While motherhood can fill one with a sense of joy, fulfillment and purpose, it also comes with a host of very real, and very exhausting responsibilities. Apart from having to meet a child’s needs night and day, there’s also the household to upkeep. With so many daily chores to get to and a child you can’t take your eyes off of for 24 hours a day, fatigue and stress can quickly set in.

One of the most stressful aspects of caring for children is trying to calm them down when they feel upset. The constant wails of a child are never a pleasant sound, and sometimes, there appears to be nothing that can soothe or placate the little tot.

However, one mom in Georgia has found the secret to pacifying her young daughter, which always works. In a video posted to her Instagram on Nov. 19, 2022, Alivia Cromartie, 26, showed her approach to getting her 18-month-old daughter, Icey, to calm down while she was throwing a tantrum.

The clip showed little Icey already teary-eyed as she bawled loudly. Cromartie then started to do something completely unexpected – zoomies!

Zoomies, also referred to as scrumbling or midnight crazies, refers to frenetic random activity periods, and is a phenomenon prevalent in pets such as cats and dogs, who suddenly appear to run around frantically and energetically. Believed to be prompted by playful excitement or stress, zoomies typically last from a few seconds to a few minutes. 

In Cromartie’s video, Icey was seen standing on the ground as her mom began doing zoomies around her. Icey’s reaction to her mother’s stunt was almost too wholesome to be true.

Once Cromartie started her zoomies approach, the video showed Icey looking confused before she stopped crying altogether and instead began to laugh at the hilarity of her momma’s antics. After running a few circles around Icey, Cromartie stopped in front of her child, who ran over to her for a hug. Cromartie captioned the clip:

“POV: This is how you gentle parent when your toddler is on the verge of a meltdown … zoomies!”

Viewers were stunned by how well the method worked and couldn’t wait to try it for themselves.

“Will try this with my husband 😐” one humorous comment read, while another user wrote, “Let me see if this works for my teenager tantrums too!!! I’m going to have to run to Africa and back 😂”

Others lauded the mom for using such a gentle way to calm her child down. “As a childcare professional I approve and appreciate this❤️. Dancing works too,” a viewer said. Another comment read: 

“It’s called the distraction method. Do anything different, out of character, etc and your child will quickly forget why they are crying. A lot of adults are so caught up in ‘winning the power struggle’ with your child that they escalate the situation. You’ll never win the power struggle with a toddler.”

Meanwhile, Cromartie told Today that Icey often gets cranky and starts throwing a tantrum when she’s hungry. She added she isn’t averse to pulling out the zoomies approach in public, either.

“I’ve done zoomies in a grocery store. I’ll run up and down the aisles. I don’t care who sees. … Distracting my kid is the key," Cromartie explained. 

She added she’s been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from moms the world over and said:

“They're like, ‘it works!’ I think people are surprised. But it really does work.”

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Do you like this mom’s creative trick? If so, pass this on to family and friends who might want to give it a try too!