Joanna Fortune: How to manage a child's tantrums and meltdowns

And what is a good age for a reward chart?

Dr Joanna Fortune: "Tantrums and meltdowns are different, though the terms are often used interchangeably. A tantrum is behavioural and is, as outlined above, developmentally normal in a child this age. A meltdown is when a child is so overwhelmed sensorily that they cannot self-regulate or even be co-regulated by their caregiver"

I'm finding my three-year-old son challenging to manage. He often has meltdowns and lashes out at me or his older sister. I've tried 'time out' in his room for 10 minutes but it only makes things worse. I recently introduced a rewards chart but he couldn't care less. What else can I do?

Three-year-olds having tantrums and flashes of temper, even this kind of volcanic eruptive temper, is developmentally normal, albeit challenging for parents. Children this age often have low frustration thresholds and poor impulse control. Add that they are striving for more independence, seeking to assert themselves, and having things on their terms, and you have the perfect combination of variables leading to tantrums.