Calm-Down Time

This book has been great for my toddler (three year old) to recognize their feelings and also come up with a solution on how to deal with them. She literally has tried the different examples in the book on how to soothe and calm herself especially the little mantra "1, 2, 3, I'm taking care of me" and she takes a deep breathe afterwards. I would highly recommend this book for parents of kids who are having trouble with their big feelings. She now feels safe to tell me when she is made or upset or sad and I'm able to acknowledge those feelings making her feel understood. This book has been such a life saver for me as a first time mom!

I read this to my 7.5 month old thinking that she wouldn't understand it, but that it would be good to have in the back of her mind. However, the next time she got frustrated, she said, "Hug!" and now when she gets frustrated she asks for a hug. It is one of two books she wants to read all of the time and it has really been helping her with her emotions, which is amazing!

Great book to teach children about their feelings and healthy coping skills!

My son was a difficult toddler, especially between the ages of 1 and 2. He was capable of throwing a severe hour long temper tantrum over a broken piece of cheese during which he would scream, shake and be unreachable and impossible to comfort. He would also bang his head hard when upset. In addition to having a tough temper, he had a high activity level and would resist sleep when tired which only made the temper worse. He also wanted everything to go his way always and was not a flexible child at all. When something did not go his way, he would lose it. He could lose it over almost anything at all. There were times the tantrums were so long and intense that I was frightened. Sometimes he would just wake up from a nap in a state like this (so there was nothing that even precipitated it). Nobody understood what we were going through so I stopped even trying to talk to other parents about it. We felt alone and helpless a lot of the time. He started improving around 2 years old which is when we bought this book. Because we bought it after he started improving anyway, it is hard to judge its true efficacy. Having said that, we started to read him this book when he was melting down (or right after in cases when during was impossible) and I think it helped him understand that strong emotions are ok but that it is important to learn how to cope and calm yourself down. Was it a magical cure? No. At 4, he still struggles with coping with disappointment and he is still more demanding and temperamental that most but his tantrums are not long anymore. We have all learned to handle them better and they have improved as he has gained increased verbal ability as the pediatrician said would happen. I don't know if this would have helped him much younger than two because his tantrums were so severe and he was so difficult to reach. Maybe in calmer moments it could have but I don't believe it would have worked in the midst of one of his major tantrums. My much more easy-going 2.5 year old daughter also likes this book. In many ways, it is probably best suited to more normal kids like her who can be reached and taught calm-down skills while in a tantrum. If you child suffers from severe tantrums like mine did, this may provide a little relief and help him or her understand that emotions are normal and learn some techniques to calm down (that s/he will likely not use anyway during a meltdown) but it is not going to solve the problem. All you can do is hang in there, give that child love, and try to be as calm and understanding as possible. From my experience, removing the child from the situation helps most of all. Letting him get it out on his own in a safe place worked best (as hard as it is to do nothing when you want so badly to help but can't). Anyway, if you are struggling with this, you will be happy to know that my son is quite normal now. He is extremely intelligent (probably part of his problem). He is doing great in school, is gregarious and has a great sense of humor. He is still controlling and inflexible but is miles ahead of where he was. I don't think I can credit this book with these developments but it didn't hurt and maybe even helped him a little.

If you need help calming down your toddler, this book definitely will be a good shot. Good luck😄

My 2.6 year old son picked out the "Bye Bye Time" book at the local library, and when I read it to him, we absolutely fell in love with it. We immediately bought the "Calm-Down Time" text for the very same reasons I listed in my review of "Bye Bye Time": When I read to my son, I try to make it interactive by having him identify objects and by acting out some of the actions. For example, when the dad says (in the "Bye Bye Time"), "First, hugs and kisses. Squeeeze, smooch", I have him hug, kiss, and squeeze me and mom. He loves that. Then, mom says to "take a deep breath and let it out", and all three of us breathe in deeply and exhale with an audible "ahhhhhhh". Definitely a fun exercise that we all love because it's like a game, stress relief (for us parents after a long day), and a tool for him to learn how to deal with emotions. For "Calm Down Time", it teaches the toddler to also take a deep breath and to acknowledge that he or she is upset and that it is perfectly okay to be so. Then it coaches the little one on how to deal with the emotion. Make it interactive, and when he screams, we simply tell him to "Calm down" until he does, then teach him how to relax further by incorporating the techniques listed in this book. Absolutely recommended.

10/10 purchase for my 2 year old!

ETA: He is using the tactics in this book-- specifically, he prefers to be held when upset. He's now almost 4 1/2 and he still pulls this book out now again. I recommend this book highly to anyone reading this but also recommend it often to other parents/teachers/etc. I think this book is fantastic! I wanted a book that really would help with my child's meltdowns and emotional regulation. This book is perfect for that! He has attention issues and is a bit delayed and, at 3 1/2, this book is perfect. I'd say it'd be good for 18mos-4 easily. It is concise and very clear. My child understands what the intentions of the book are, what to do when upset, etc. I feel like it's really helped him work through what's going on when he gets so upset. I will say that he hasn't used these tactics yet but these things take time. I would recommend this book to anyone -- mindfulness is a wonderful thing to teach from as early as you can. Thanks to the author for a job well done. (From a Developmental Specialist with a background in Early Childhood Ed and Psychology with over 20 years in the field)

Super recomendable! Los tips para papas super utiles! Los pague dos veces, ojalá me los pudieran volver a mandar para regalo.

Great for kids from age 22 months. Highly recommend! My kid is able to practise breathing techniques (which he enjoys doing during story time). Furthermore, it’s a lovely hardback book which stands lovely on his book shelf. There are good parental tips too at the back of the book. Worth the purchase.

bellissimo libro per il mio piccolo di 2 anni. insegna al bimbo come calmarsi quando e' un po' nervosa. belle anche le immagini. .lo consiglio

Great book i love it it also rethms so it is goood

A must for all parents and children. For an extended review for book and others, pls check out @sonalisaigalkapur.noni on Instagram