486: How to Handle Preschool Tantrums and Toddler Meltdowns

Wire Talk with Karen Stubbs

Karen Stubbs

Christianity, Parenting, Parenting Advice, Kids & Family, Christian Parent, Religion & Spirituality, Faith, Motherhood

4.9 • 936 Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Between toddler tantrums, potty training battles, and endless power struggles, the preschool years can feel like the wild west of parenting. Today Karen is answering your preschool questions with her trademark practical tips, reminding us that structure, consistency, and patience go a long way. Above all, your daily walk with the Lord is what will sustain you during these exhausting and beautiful years!

Episode Recap:

My husband and I are at our wit’s end with our strong-willed 4 year old’s tantrums (6:11)
Take a deep dive into the temperaments to learn how to discipline your child (7:00)
My husband’s job keeps him away from home often, how can I help my young children cope? (10:30)
Help! Potty training is driving me nuts! (14:54)
How do I help my 3 year old regulate his emotions? (17:40)
Giving in to a tantrum makes it worse 100% of the time (19:00)
Everything is an argument with my four year old, any advice? (23:22)
Your walk with the Lord truly does make a difference (27:49)

Scripture: Galatians 5:22–23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Discussion Questions:

How do you usually respond when your preschooler throws a tantrum? Is it working? Is there a new strategy you could try this week?
Karen shared the importance of structure. What does a typical day look like in your home, and how could a little more routine help your preschooler?
When your spouse travels or works long hours (or if you are co-parenting and splitting time between parents), how can you help your kids feel connected to their parent who is away?
Potty training can be one of the most frustrating seasons. What’s worked (or not worked) in your family, and how do you keep patience in the process?
Karen reminded us that we need to lean on the Holy Spirit’s fruit to parent well. Which “fruit” do you most need to pray for in this season? Let’s pray for one another this week!

Resources:

We are booking for 2026! Reach out to bring Karen’s wisdom to the moms in your community: https://birdsonawiremoms.com/book-karen-to-speak
Learn more about temperaments in our most recent episode with Kathleen Edelman: https://wiretalk.transistor.fm/episodes/470-why-your-child-s-wiring-matters
Send us your question! Use the Ask Karen function in the BOAW Moms app: App Store: https://apps.apple.com/md/app/birds-on-a-wire-moms/id1419899927 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.subsplashconsulting.s_JVZ5JB&hl=en_US

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I think the worst thing we can all do is give in to the tantrums. Yeah. Because that just makes them worse and that makes them last longer and all that. So I would just say, hey, if you can't stop crying, I need you to go to your room until you can pull yourself together. And then we will have a conversation or we will talk about what you want. But while you're screaming and yelling and all this kind of stuff, I can't
0:21.6	understand you. I can't relate. You've got to go to your room. You've got to self-regulate.
0:26.6	I would not let them come out until they can calm down. And sometimes you may just have to sit
0:32.3	there on the bed with them and just hold them, hold their little shoulders until they can calm
0:37.2	down. But when they're crazy
0:38.9	like that, there's just nothing much you can do. So that's what I did with you guys. You were also my
0:44.4	cryer. It must be a secondborn thing. Because Grayson's my cryer too. Yeah. So I would just
0:50.0	start asking you questions like, Emily, is this worth crying about? And most of the time you're like,
0:55.4	no? And I'd like, okay, well then let's try to get ourselves together here. Tell me what you want.
1:02.0	You don't have to cry about it. I will get you what you want without all these tears.
1:07.6	Welcome to Wire Talk, where we encourage and equip moms by answering practical questions
1:12.5	about motherhood. We want to help instill God's truth in your heart so you can experience
1:16.8	more joy and peace on your journey of motherhood. Are you ready for some truth? Let's dive in.
1:24.4	Hey, everybody, welcome to Wiretalk. So today we're going to talk all things preschoolers and how you and your husband handle these situations, from pooping to temper tantrums to everything in between. So here we go. Let's dive in. These are great questions from the moms. So let's get started.
2:01.0	Well, hello everybody and welcome to Wire Talk. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Emily, your host, and with me is the one and only Karen Stubbs. Drumroll, please. Hello, Emily. It's a really bad drum roll. That was a bad dribble, but I sort of interrupted it, so because I didn't want a drum roll. Yeah, I'm not going to try that again that's okay mom this episode is packed it's going to be fun we've got some funny questions so we've got
2:06.7	some pooping questions which I always love a good poop question yes because it's just real and at
2:11.9	our talk we keep things real and practical and you're going to give us some good advice today talk about
2:16.5	real and practical.
2:19.2	Look at that little sweet belly of yours. I know it.
2:20.2	I know it.
2:20.7	This doesn't air until September 30th, which is crazy.
2:25.3	She'll be a month and a half by then.
	...

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