Customer Reviews

I Brake for Meltdowns: How to Handle the Most Exasperating Behavior of Your 2- to 5-year-old

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Highly recommend! As a mom of 4 children aged 11 down to 2, it's not often that I have time to pick up a parenting book anymore. But this great book kept me reading & gave me some helpful new parenting tools for my arsenal. It would be a wonderful resource for new parents, too.

Targeted to common parenting challenges -- e.g., pushing, mean & angry talking, refusing to stay at the dinner table -- the book suggests very specific words & actions parents can use with young children for each particular issue -- with a loving, respectful, but firm tone that most of us aspire to, but don't always achieve. So busy parents can flip right to the problem at hand for a quick refresher on an ideal response, or for another approach to try when you're stuck in a parenting rut. The authors include lots of examples & solutions from their own experience that really ring true & make this a much more practical & helpful resource than most of the parenting books I've consulted over the years.

Wow, wow, wow! Finally a parenting book I can relate to! As the mother of one three year old boy and an avid reader, I find myself reading a lot of parenting books. So far I haven't found one that I could really get on board with (and I have read a LOT of them!). This one finally changed that for me. This book is great! Not too "crunchy", not too old school, just sane parenting advice.

I love the way the book is organized with an index AND a table of contents to help me find exactly the situation I need help with at the time. I also love the feel and the look of the book (as a book lover, paper texture and feel is important to me). This is a fantastic book for those of us searching for a way to deal with our dear children in an effective and reasonable way. Five stars!

The previous review is right, this book, which I happened upon in a local bookstore is WONDERFUL! I sat down in the store to look at it real quick and after 30 seconds I decided to buy it. The BEST part of this book is the table of contents, pick the problem/s you are having with your child, "Child not hugging grandparents", go to that section and there is the problem, and the solution, even better, if that solution doesn't work, they offer another solution and often times even a third. This book is so easy to move around in and the advice is right there, you don't have to read page after page to get what you are looking for. If you are having any frustrations with your kids, buy this book, it is worth every penny.

In addition to its ultra-helpful table of contents organized by situation ("Won't let you leave the bedroom;" "Ignores you or others;" "Won't get fingernails clipped"...), I was delighted to see that I Brake for Meltdowns also includes a range of "What Ifs" covering some of the many possible curveball responses that kids come up with (because, at least in my experience, the absurdly neat child-response scenarios in many other parenting advice books often read like fairy tales. Or some serious wishful thinking). The authors have a clear respect for children. Unlike many advice books which are focused solely on using Skinnerian discipline to control behavior, IBfM offers insight into children's motivations and developmental stages along with advice on how parents can help children learn to be pleasant, civilized people. And the authors' down-to-earth, been-there-done-that tone about the sometimes maddening business of childrearing makes it a companionable read.

Although the toddler and preschool ages are wondrous years of learning and discovery, they are often overshadowed by power struggles, tantrums, and battles. It can be a very frustrating time for both parents and children. As I'm currently in the throes of raising twin four-year-old boys, I immediately jumped at the chance to read "I Brake for Meltdowns: How to Handle the Most Exasperating Behavior of Your 2- to 5-Year-Old." Finally, a book has been written to help me cope when life with little ones makes me wonder if I'm truly adequate for the job of parenting!

What I really like about this book is that it's practical. It gives real solutions for how to handle very specific scenarios. In fact, the list is so extensive that you're sure to find a solution to your particular parenting problems. Written by Michelle Nicholasen--a mom who had five children in five years (including triplets)--and Barbara O'Neal--a mother of three children (and three grandchildren) who has worked with preschool-aged children for more than 40 years--the authors bring a wealth of wisdom and experience to the table. Every parent with a 2- to 5-year-old needs to pick up "I Brake for Meltdowns." It will give them hope that they can survive the trials of raising toddlers and preschoolers!

It was a good book. I expected more, or something more solid to apply like maybe a consistent approach to handling the meltdowns, though. But, it does provide so many solutions for everyday situations. The other books I bought didn't touch nose picking, rudeness to strangers, meltdowns in vehicles, etc. A wide, wide variety of everyday battles to look up. I understand they were trying to provide solutions for a small child and older children so there are so many examples and they are different. If you have children within this range, I'd say it's a good choice. But, we thought they gave way too many chances and alternatives. For example, I'm not making two meals for my child every night for dinner just because she may not like one. She eats what we eat, or she can have what's already on the table, like bread. But, that's just us. Some people may think that's too harsh. Overall, I'd say there is no consistent approach addressed in the book, every situation is handled differently, but toddlers need consistency and limits. For the level of detail on the meltdowns in a small child's life, I'd say it's a good choice, but have your own plan in place for how to handle things consistently and just use this book as a supplement maybe.

I found this book to be very practical and realistic. You can tell that the writers have real life experience. You can easily find the behaviors/ situations that apply to you and skip the ones that you don't need. Good buy for parents of toddlers.

As a Kindergarten teacher, I'm always looking for practical ways to help the children and families in my class. I Brake for Meltdowns offers just that: tried, tested, realistic, and FANTASTIC advice. An index in the back of the book makes it extremely user-friendly and accessible. From kids refusing to get dressed to go to school, to issues of sibling rivalry, tantrums, and toilet training, I Brake For Meltdowns offers a loving, supportive, and smart approach to solving any problem. I HIGHLY recommend this book!

I bought this book for my daughters. They each have busy toddlers and had some questions about some of the not-so-pleasant behaviors they were witnessing. The book had practical, common-sense suggestions. The book even offered actual dialogue to help young frustrated parents get their point across. Also, I found the Table of Contents and index allowed them to pin-point specific issues quickly. As a grandma, I liked the suggested childrens books and DVDs listed in the back of the book.

I bought this book for a book review assignment in one of my classes. I will be holding on to this one! Really helpful and an interesting read.