Dads are better than moms at handling toddler tantrums, reveals survey

Toddler tantrums are real. More often, kids can be unstoppable when they start to cry or get upset about everything around them. Parents in such moments are clueless and try their best to either feed them or distract them with things the kids usually like. However, recent research has found that dads are slightly better at handling tantrums than mothers, as reported by ScaryMommy.

A survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Baby Magic shows that the results are quite close when it comes to handling child tantrums which are 45% vs. 42%, according to New York Post. The survey was carried out with 1000 moms and 1000 dads who have children between 0-4 years old. It has been found that the average parent compromises with their kid about four times per week. Moms are said to be more likely to acquiesce to bedtime (59% vs. 48%), whereas dads bargain more over bathtime (37% vs. 28%). Still, most parents were able to manage bath time (61%), bedtime routines (59%), morning routines (58%), and snuggling and bonding time (58%).

Moreover, when it comes to tantrum control, dads have slightly more edge than moms. The survey claims that 74% of the respondents' kids have had a temper tantrum in the last month, with an average child throwing a little more than four every week. The reasons for the tantrums were: “Because he couldn’t fit a toy in his toy car,” “his shirt wasn’t pants” and “I wouldn’t let them play in the toilet.” Other reasons were “because the dirt on the floor was a monster,” “I gave her spaghetti and she doesn’t like the color red so she refused to eat it” and “he lost his pet worm.”

Parents don't only have to manage tantrums, but also an average parent cleans up at least one mess their kids make per day. The messes usually are spilled food, the residue left from mealtime, or dirt from playing outside. It is why most parents rate their houses between the five-second rule clean and well-lived clean. Furthermore, half of the respondents believe their house is cleaner than other parents, while the remaining say they are embarrassed by how messy it is.

“From toys scattered around the home to sticky hands after mealtime — there will always be some sort of mess to clean up when you’re raising little ones,” said Hazel Smith, Senior Marketing Manager at Baby Magic. “But moms and dads agree, with the messy chaos of our lives it’s the slower, present moments that create lifelong memories.”

These lifelong memories do come with some lessons to learn. Maybe that is the reason 76% agreed that they made mistakes. It didn't come as a surprise that more mothers felt more guilty about these mistakes (59% vs. 44%). When parents sought advice, over half reached out to their own parents. “We have played an integral role as parents, transcending through generations of trust with grandparents, parents, and children to create those precious moments of togetherness,” said Smith. Fifty percent of the parents claimed that they shared parenting duties equally. They divide the tasks like running errands with the children (53%), reading to them (49%), and using teachable moments (48%). According to the survey, seven in 10 mothers took care of the bath time most of the time, which is 71% compared to dads (24%).