S-O-L-V-E Parenting Problems: The Toddler Years

True story: I had to crank up the audio for the first eleven minutes of this program in order to hear over my two-year-old's hellacious bathtime tantrum. So I was very interested in finding out what Ann Corwin, Ph.D. had to say about managing toddler behavior. Her formula for “turning toddler troubles into triumphs” is the acronym S-O-L-V-E. “S” is for stating the problem behavior; “O” is for observing the child and your reactions to the behavior, “L” is for learning about age-appropriate behaviors, “V” is for varying your approach to the behavior, and “E” is for enforcing boundaries so the child knows what to expect. Here, a multiethnic panel of parents address issues such as toddler tantrums, lack of sharing, and toilet training, while case studies featuring successful use of the S-O-L-V-E formula are presented. Unfortunately, the information is facile and sometimes even conflicting (for example, one woman learns not to use eye contact with a not-sharing child because it validates his desire for attention, but she later takes him aside to work on a puzzle when he's not sharing--isn't the exclusive attention validating the negative behavior?). Resources included in the accompanying parent workbook and facilitator's guide, as well as the credits, are commercial (Pampers.com) or unavailable in many states (state family resource centers). Optional. Aud: P. (R. Reagan)