Talk to your toddler about how your feelings feel

What to do 

1. When your toddler expresses an emotion, describe how you feel when you experience the same emotion. For example, “When I feel sad, it makes my tummy feel tight and to make it go away, I ask someone for a hug.” 
2. Talk to them regularly about your feelings; say you drop something on the floor, and it surprises you, you could say, “Oh I dropped my cup, that scared me. My heart is beating quickly now.” 

Good to know 

When your toddler is experiencing big emotions, they probably won’t be able to talk about how they feel or what's happened. Stay quiet and close to help them calm – you can talk about what happened later when everyone is ready.