Toddler tantrums should not be taken lightly. When a child loses their mind over something minor (or major), the emotions can quickly boil over. A child’s meltdown can cause chaos in a house. New research suggests that dads may be better at managing meltdowns.
The poll, which included 1,000 moms and 1,000 fathers of children ages 0-4, found that parents are at least once a day in disagreement with their child. On average, a parent will compromise with their child four times per week.
OnePoll conducted the survey on behalf of Baby Magic. Results showed that dads had a slight advantage over moms in tantrum control, with close results of 42% vs 45%.
While dads might have the power to calm down an upset toddler, half of parents polled believed they shared parenting responsibilities equally.
Parents divide household and parenting tasks, such as running errands (53%), reading to the children (49%), and using teachable moments (48%).
Parents were less likely to negotiate with their toddlers about bedtime (59% vs 48%), while dads are more willing to compromise on bath time (37% to 28%).
Although everyone has their ups and downs, more than half of the parents polled said they had mastered bath time and bedtime routines. That’s a lot of confident parents.
Parents were also polled about kid’s messes and the frequency that parents are left to clean up solo. New research shows that the average parent cleans up at most one mess per day.
Spilled food (72%), mealtime residue (70%), and dirt from the outside are just a few of the most common mess parents need to clean up.
This is why parents often feel embarrassed by messy homes.
“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.”
However, those lifelong memories also come with life lessons because, let’s face it, navigating the wild world of raising a human is not always smooth sailing, and 76% of parents admit to making mistakes.
Unsurprisingly, mothers were more likely to feel guilty than dads when they made mistakes (59% vs. 44%), and when parents sought out 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,” Smith remarked.