Behavior modification

If you are having trouble with tantrums or emotional outbursts, then the best thing to do is to work with her on handling her emotions. Toddlers have tantrums and get upset easily because they don't have the ability to express themselves and they are easily overwhelmed by their emotions. When you see her starting to get upset, talk with her. Give her the words she needs to express herself. Say 'I think you are angry because...' Tell her it's ok to be angry. 'That's ok, every one gets angry sometimes.' Then tell her that screaming or whatever she is doing is not ok, and give her acceptable ways to express herself, like stamping her feet or hitting a pillow, or going off to be by herself for a few minutes (where you can see her, of course). Doing this will validate her feelings and help her learn how to handle them on her own, and make her feel understood. It will take doing it several times before you start to see and improvement in her doing it on her own, but as she learns the words, she will be able to express herself verbally without acting out as much. If it is a matter of listening, following directions, be firm and consistent, but don't expect a 2 year old to be able to resist temptation. Either remove her from the situation, or the object that is causing a problem, or redirect her and get her involved in another activity. Time out at 2 years should be reserved for extreme moments and should be very short- 1 or 2 minutes.