How it Works
There are two main reasons why Tantrum 911 is so effective in helping your little one to settle during a tantrum, and then to recover from the stress of it.
First, extensive research has found that smelling causes the brain to interrupt all of its conscious activities for a split second and to reorganize all disordered activity. During a tantrum, the fragrance blend is brought to your distressed child’s nose, and something similar to rebooting a computer occurs, interrupting the tantrum and giving your child the chance to calm down and regroup.
Read moreFAQ
What do you do after the child has settled down? Is the problem solved?
When a child has lost complete control of his or her emotions, as can be the case in a temper tantrum, it can be almost impossible to reason or communicate with them. It is not until the child has calmed down that you are able to discuss the reason for the tantrum and deal with the underlying issue(s). Tantrum 911 helps the child to settle down gently and naturally so that this can happen. Tantrum 911 is not a substitute for good parenting, rather it is a tool to help good parents do their job.
Read moreBibliography
You may read more about the science behind this method in the peer-reviewed article by Claudie Gordon-Pomares published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrics in August 2002.
Badia, P., et al. 1990. Responsiveness to olfactory stimuli presented in sleep. Physiology and Behavior 48: 87-90.
Bear, M.F., Connors, B.W., and Paradiso, M.A. 1996. Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain. Willimas and Wilkins, Baltimore, MD.
Davis S.F. & Ludvigson W.H. Memory for Odors. pp. 133-158 Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Read moreSmell and Emotions
To give you an idea of how directly connected the sense of smell is to emotions, only two synapses (connections between nerve cells where they transfer messages one to another) separate the olfactory nerve from the amygdala, which is involved in experiencing emotion and also in emotional memory (Herz & Engen, 1996).
In addition, only three synapses separate the olfactory nerve from the hippocampus, which is implicated in memory, especially working memory and short-term memory.
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