Parents Are Raving About the ‘Popsicle Shower’ Trick That Stops Tantrums

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Just so everyone knows: Parents of toddlers are not OK. We love those little stinkers, but the truth is, they are a lot to handle. Navigating their erratic moods, fighting with them every step of the way for simple tasks — it can all get draining pretty quickly. That is why when we are given even a sliver of hope on how to tame one of their many tantrums a day, we leap on it. That is where an angel on Reddit comes in.

We emphatically present: the shower Popsicle.

Sounds weird? We thought so too … until parents in droves began testifying that it works.

This is the gist: When kids are in the middle on a uncontrollable tantrum, run a warm bath or shower (depending on age and comfort level) and lure them in with a Popsicle.

That's it. People swear it instantly calms down their kiddos.

The theory behind it is as simple as the trick itself.

People swear the conflicting temperatures of the warm bath and ice cold Popsicle is what soothes them. By engaging all of the senses simultaneously, it forces kids to focus and be truly present in the moment: the warm water lapping their back, the cool sensation of the Popsicle down their throat. It's sort of an entrancing feeling that parents describe as hitting the reset button.

Megan Jones, a pregnant mom of one, says she tried it with her 2-year-old daughter and it worked like a charm.

"I was searching 'help with toddler tantrum' and found a story about it," she tells CafeMom.

"I know Maddie loves both Popsicles and showers and I figured it really couldn't hurt her to try. So, we gave her a pop, let her get in the shower and it worked. It seems like a gentle way to get her out of a cycle of crying, especially when she wakes up grumpy from a nap."

People added a few other tips that engage tactile senses if a Popsicle shower isn't feasible in the moment.

"If, for whatever reason, you can’t do this — time crunch and no time for a bath, no popsicles, etc. — a simpler calm down alternative is offering them a sip of ice water through a straw," suggested one Reddit user. "Like other people pointed out, cold is magical for resetting us, and the act of sucking through a straw stimulates your vagus nerve which reduces your heart rate and blood pressure. Works on adults too."

Others added that letting children suck or chew on ice chips (depending on their age) is another quick fix that could help.

All in all, when mom or dad is at their wit's end, popping them in the shower with a Popsicle is an easy way to try to calm the situation.

"Saw someone on here a few weeks ago post a thank you for an advice they saw awhile ago about putting their child into the bath/shower with a popsicle when they could not calm them down … Thank you," wrote another shower Popsicle believer.

"My son was having a horrible uncontrollable meltdown. He was yelling, throwing stuff, crying, running in and out the house, running in his room to cry … which turned into a scream," the person continued. "The wife tried to rock him and he was not having it … 30 mins go by and I remember this advice so I ran a warm bubble bath, grabbed a sugar free popsicle (that was all we had) and invited him into the bathtub with a popsicle as a lure. He cried as he took his cloths off and as soon as his toe touched the water, while holding his popsicle he stopped. He sat in the tub eating his popsicle quietly and when he was done he was smiling and playing in the tub and still is as I write this. So again. Thank you."

Listen, this deep into 2020 we'll take whatever reprieve we can.