Mom Explains How She Uses An Ice Cube To Alleviate Her Toddler's Tantrums
Even for adults, ice can help during moments of extreme stress.
Alina Troeva | Shutterstock Calming your toddler's tantrums can feel impossible at times. They're screaming, crying, and throwing themselves on the floor, and nothing you do seems to provide any relief.
Thankfully, one mom appears to have cracked the code when it comes to de-escalating her toddler’s tantrums. All it takes is something you can find in almost any kitchen!
The mom uses an ice cube to alleviate her toddler’s tantrums.
The mom of a 3-year-old, @newenglandrunnr on TikTok, recently shared her all-time favorite mom hack which she described as "treating my kids' meltdowns and tantrums like anxiety attacks."
Similar to anxiety attacks, when a child has a tantrum, their nervous system is in a heightened state of stress, triggering their flight-or-fight response and activating the sympathetic nervous system. To combat this, the mom simply gives her child an ice cube.
“One of my favorite things to do right now with my 3-year-old when he's having a really tough time is I will give him an ice cube and I will just let him throw it in the bathtub," the mom explained. "It instantly calms him down."
“He instantly wants to do it cause he's able to throw something," she continued, "and then the cold from the ice cube tricks the nervous system into calming down because it distracts it.”
While that may sound trivial or just too easy, the cooling effect of the ice does wonders at bringing a child — or adult — back to Earth.
Other parents online praised cooling methods for curbing their children's tantrums.
“My 2-year-old just had a three-hour-long meltdown at bedtime. He’s never done that before,” one mom on Reddit shared. “At hour three, I finally remembered a tip a mom friend gave me about giving her daughter an ice pack when she has meltdowns and it calms her down immediately. Well, it worked! He didn’t initially want it, but I cooled my own hands on it and touched his face and neck and he immediately started to calm down.”
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"Ice is a superpower here," another parent wrote. "I can vouch for ice, ice cream, ice yogurt, ice everything! Ice is like magic for my almost-2-year-old."
Even just stepping outside in cold climates can help! “My daughter was born in September, so we had a full winter with her as a newborn," a third user shared. "Whenever she was inconsolable, we used to open the back door, step outside for just 30 seconds or whatever, and she would calm down immediately after the cold air hit her."
Health experts agree that ice can be used to instantly relieve stress.
When applied strategically, ice triggers physiological changes that can help regulate stress — in children and adults. Many health experts claim that the most effective area to place ice when you are feeling particularly stressed is at the back of the neck. This action decreases your heart rate and reduces anxiety.
"Putting ice in the back of your neck or splashing your face with cold water triggers the mammalian diving reflex,” ER doctor and content creator Dr. Joe Whittington explained. “It's a physiologic response to your face being submerged or exposed to cold. It lowers your heart rate and constricts your blood vessels and can ease the symptoms of panic attack.”
For children, tantrums are their own version of anxiety attacks. When they are feeling especially anxious and cannot verbally express it, they may completely melt down, reducing themselves to a puddle of screams and tears. Placing ice in their hands or at the back of their necks provides the same relief it does for adults with anxiety.
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.