Parents of toddlers know the sound of a meltdown before it even starts: the sharp inhale, the quiver, the look that says everything is about to go off the rails. That is exactly the moment one mom decided to try something so simple it almost sounded silly, and then watched her child’s tantrum stop in its tracks. Her playful “freeze like a statue” move spread quickly across social media, not because it was flashy, but because thousands of exhausted parents recognized that it actually worked.
Her viral success has opened the floodgates for other parents and experts to share their own low-tech, high-empathy tricks for calming little kids who feel big feelings. From statues to “zoomies,” ice cubes to whispers, these ideas share a common thread: they respect a toddler’s emotions while gently steering their nervous system back to calm.
The freeze trick that turned a meltdown into a game
The heart of the original viral moment is almost disarmingly basic. In the middle of a brewing tantrum, the mom looks at her child and announces a sudden game of “freeze,” asking the toddler to stand completely still like a statue. That tiny invitation to play interrupts the emotional spiral and gives the child something concrete to do with their body. Instead of escalating, the toddler shifts from rage to concentration, trying to hold the pose and meet the challenge.
In a clip shared by Jan on social media, the instructions are as straightforward as they sound: the next time a little one is in full meltdown mode, the parent tells them to freeze, locks eyes, and holds that gaze while the child tries to stay still, turning a power struggle into a shared joke and a reset button for both of them. The playful “statue” cue, described by Jan as a way to hit “the pause,” has resonated with parents who are desperate for something they can remember and use in the heat of the moment, which helps explain why the video spread so quickly once Next shared it widely.
Why playful “zoomies” are replacing power struggles
Other parents have discovered that the fastest way out of a tantrum is not to shut it down, but to run straight through it, literally. One mom, Alivia Cromartie, has become known for turning her toddler’s meltdowns into “zoomies,” sprinting around with her child instead of lecturing or threatening time-outs. In her viral clip, she frames it with a simple caption, using the phrase “POV” to invite viewers into the scene as she shows how she gentle parents when her toddler is on the verge of losing it, choosing to move with her child rather than against her.
Alivia’s approach is part comedy, part nervous-system science. By racing around the room, she gives her toddler a safe outlet for all that pent-up energy, and she gets a dose of cardio herself. Commenters have applauded the way she flips the script, with one noting that the child ends up running around instead of having the meltdown, and another joking that it is “meltdown averted and cardio” rolled into one. Her clip, shared in late Dec, has been cited repeatedly as an example of how “zoomies” can transform chaos into connection, and the details of her caption, including the “POV” framing and her full name, Alivia Cromartie, are now shorthand for this playful style of gentle parenting that has been highlighted in parenting clips.
From “zoomies” to giggles, Parents are leaning into movement
What Alivia Cromartie is doing in her living room is part of a broader shift in how Parents are handling toddler chaos. Instead of insisting that a furious three-year-old sit still and “use their words” before they are ready, more caregivers are embracing movement as the first step toward calm. One widely shared story describes a mom who channels her child’s meltdown into a round of “zoomies” inspired by dogs, racing around until the tears flip into giggles and the tension drains out of the room.
That playful method has been credited with saving parents from feeling trapped in endless tantrum cycles, especially during long afternoons when everyone is tired and cooped up. By reframing the outburst as a chance to move together, the adult signals that the child is not bad or in trouble, just overwhelmed and in need of a reset. Reports of this approach describe how quickly a sobbing toddler can shift into laughter when a parent suddenly drops into a silly run, and how that shared silliness can restore connection in a way that lectures rarely do, a pattern captured in detail in coverage of zoomies hacks.
The science-y side: ice cubes, whispers and nervous systems
Not every tantrum can be solved by running laps, and some parents are turning to sensory tricks that quietly nudge a child’s body back toward calm. One TikTok creator, known as @newengla, has popularized an ice cube hack that she says is a game-changer for calming toddler tantrums. In her video, she offers a small ice cube to a distressed child, inviting them to hold it and focus on the cold sensation. That simple act of noticing the chill in their hand can interrupt the emotional storm and redirect the brain’s attention.
Coverage of her clip explains that the ice cube works by engaging the child’s senses and signaling the nervous system to shift out of fight-or-flight. Parents who have tried it describe almost instant calm as their kids become fascinated by the melting cube instead of the original trigger. One report notes that this creator’s video has drawn significant attention, with viewers praising how it taps into the body’s natural response to cold and helps a child regulate without punishment, a response that has been detailed in a piece highlighting this ice cube trick.
Other experts are leaning on the opposite of sensory shock: softness. A pediatric professional who posts as @tiktokkiddoc has shared what she calls the easiest and quickest way to defuse a toddler tantrum, and it does not involve raising her voice. Instead, she lowers it, using a whisper to draw the child in. By speaking so quietly that the toddler has to pause and listen, she flips the usual script of shouting over screams and invites the child into a calmer, more connected space, a method she walks through step by step in her whisper tutorial.
Spotlighting the good when Life feels “easily frustrating”
While these viral tricks focus on the heat of the moment, some parents are also looking upstream, trying to reduce how often their toddlers reach boiling point in the first place. Licensed child therapist Deena Margolin, one of the moms behind Big Little Feelings, has helped popularize a strategy she calls “spotlight the right,” which she shared in a now viral post. Instead of only reacting when a child is rough or defiant, she encourages parents to actively notice and praise the tiny moments when their toddler is gentle, patient or flexible, even if those wins last only a few seconds.
Deena Margolin’s approach is rooted in the reality that Life is easily frustrating as a little one, from boxes that will not open to shelves that are out of reach and rules that do not make sense. By shining attention on what is going well, parents can slowly shift a child’s sense of themselves from “always in trouble” to “capable of doing hard things,” which can lower the emotional temperature over time. Her guidance, shared through Big Little Feelings, has been widely circulated in parenting circles and is laid out in detail in coverage of how to reframe frustration.
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