Oh, the whining, crying, fussing and yelling —- and that's just us moms. Around babies' first birthdays, some start to throw temper tantrums. They're equally common in girls and boys, and they usually occur between ages 1 and 3, especially during the second year of life.

Temper tantrums are like an emotional storm. A baby is frustrated, tired, hungry or uncomfortable, and she has no way to express that, other than with kicking-and-screaming chaos. Just as kids vary, so do temper tantrums. Some kids have them regularly, others very rarely. Temper tantrums are very normal, and they usually diminish on their own in time.

As your baby matures and develops better communication skills as well as a better understanding of her world, she'll be less frustrated and feel more in control, and the emotional weather should improve. Our prediction: Clear skies ahead.

Here's what our mommy M.D.'s — doctors who are also mothers — do to ease their babies' tantrums.

"In parenting, you need to be 100 percent consistent," says Amy Baxter, M.D., a mom of three, the CEO of PainCareLabs.com and a National Institutes of Health researcher based in Atlanta, Georgia. "But not a lot of people realize that, with kids, it's perfectly okay to call a do-over! And then you restart the consistency. Simply sit down with your child and say, 'Okay, we have a new thing going into effect from now on.' You can actually do this several times, as long as you make it seem like a new plan each time."

"I've found this to be a great way to introduce new patterns or fix bad habits or behavior such as tantrums," Dr. Baxter continues. "It's even better if you build it up for a few days: 'Starting Saturday ... ' If you've been inconsistent for a while, you need to start fresh with consistency. Kids are never too young for natural consequences. Instead of saying, 'From now on, we're not going to throw your doll into the toilet,' the natural consequence is 'You can't have the doll until it's been run through the dishwasher.' When a toy is the subject of a dispute, sometimes I'll put the toy in time-out. I tried the Solomon solution, but our kids would have let me cut a disputed toy in half rather than give in."

"I found that it's best to avoid the tantrum to start with, by steering the overall situation so that the child's frustration does not become too much for her to manage," says Elizabeth Berger, MD, a mom of two grown children, a child psychiatrist and the author of "Raising Kids with Character," in New York City. "Of course, for some children under some circumstances, it is impossible to always succeed with this goal. If a tantrum can't be avoided, the best thing to do is to lay aside all other agendas for the moment and work on soothing the child so that the tantrum ends."

"The best way to achieve this is sometimes tricky," Dr. Berger continues. "Some children need to be in your lap, while others need to be quietly near you. Other children need an interesting distraction. The basic cause of a tantrum is that the child cannot manage the level of stimulation and has just 'gone to pieces.' Worrying about 'giving in' to the child is usually irrelevant — unless, of course, it is an issue of safety. The child who has gone to pieces isn't manipulating you, bullying you, or trying to get the better of you. Children who have gone to pieces need a lap so they can pull themselves together again, or they need to get out of the busy store, or they need something that feels secure and comforting. The parent's goal is to deliver that thing."

Dr. Rallie's Tips

"My oldest son was — and still is — very strong willed. Sometimes when he didn't get his way, he would get himself all worked up. If I couldn't distract him or redirect him early enough, he would end up having a full-blown temper tantrum. I'd just move my son's writhing little body to a safe place and let him get it all out. I really think those temper tantrums were the only way he knew to release his frustrations. Afterward, he'd go back to being his old sweet self. I think he outgrew them by the time he was about three years old, and as far as I know, he hasn't had one since!" — Rallie McAllister, M.D., M.P.H., mom of three, co-author of "The Mommy MD Guide to Your Baby's First Year," nationally recognized health expert and family physician in Lexington, Kentucky

Jennifer Bright is a mom of four sons, co-founder and CEO of family- and veteran- owned custom publisher Momosa Publishing, co-founder of the Mommy MD Guides team of 150+ mommy M.D.s, and co-author of "The Mommy MD Guide to the Toddler Years." She lives in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. To find out more about Jennifer Bright and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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