"[I] took my 3 year old son to one of those doctor's visits where he was going to get a shot. He was worried about the shot on the whole drive over, almost to the point of tears," the parent wrote on Reddit.
When they arrived, the nurse told what seemed like bad news to begin with, but the parent managed to turn it around.
"We get to the doctor's office and a nurse subtly lets me know that my son is not just scheduled for 1 shot, but 5 of them in the same visit," they continued.
"I turn to my son with an exaggerated smile and tell him, 'Good news! They figured out how to take that one big shot you were going to get and instead break it up into these 5 little tiny shots so it won't hurt nearly as much!'
"You could see the relief wash over his face. He stopped squirming and relaxed completely. He took the first shot and even smiled and said "It's true! The small ones don't hurt!"
"We actually made it through the third shot before the effect wore off and reality kicked in. Still... I counted it as a victory."
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Another parent shared how they used reverse psychology to stop their kid from running away from them when crossing streets.
"My son was really impulsive when he was little and would try to run away from me when we would be crossing streets instead of holding my hand," the parent wrote on Reddit.
"So I started to tell him that he needed to hold my hand so nobody would try to steal me. It worked. He felt responsible for making sure nobody tried to kidnap me out in public."
Tantrums are something all parents have to suffer through, so this mum shared how she got their little one to stop having a meltdown.
"We were in line at the grocery store checking out. Kid was three, and the meltdown started, and quickly became an on the floor tantrum," she wrote.
"I looked down and said, louder than normal, but not yelling, 'Where is your mother? We need to find your mom!'
"She was startled, because i am her mom, and confused. But the tantrum ended quickly, and with hugs."
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One person agreed commenting: "If you can't console them, confuse them."
Another parent shared simple instructions on how to get your toddler to stop making a fuss with reverse psychology.
"Here's how to handle the screaming and yelling tantrum:
"1. Observe quietly for a moment.
"2. Shake your head and say, 'No, no, you're not doing it right. You have to shake your body more, and really throw your legs and arms into it. Here, watch..'."
"Lay down on the ground and demonstrate your best full-on kicking and screaming tantrum.
"Your mortified child will never, ever try that again."
One person said this worked on them saying: "My mom did this once to me, it worked very quickly and I completely forgot why I was crying."
Another parent brought up how the "I bet you can't..." phenomenon works every time on their kids.
"Both of them HATE the assertion that they're not capable of doing something," they wrote.
"'Can you put your toys away?' will almost certainly garner a hard NO, but 'I bet you can't put all those toys back in the box, no way you'll be able to' will have them whizzing round tidying like demons, followed by a very indignant 'see, I told you I could!'. Cue fake surprise from me."
They said they are only 4 and 7 so they only have a limited time to use this method.
One person shared how his wife, who was a trauma therapist, stopped their nephew from crying.
"Our nephew was bawling in the back seat once because he'd finished his soda. He wanted a sip of his sister's and she wouldn't let him," he wrote.
"My wife just asked him point blank 'Does crying make you feel better?'. He got a real inquisitive look on his face and almost immediately calmed down.
"I was just as flabbergasted as he was."
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A person also shared how their parents tricked them out of bed by using reverse psychology when they were a kid.
"My mom said we were going to trick my dad into thinking I was still asleep. So she made me put on clothes and then hide under the covers and pretend to be asleep," they wrote.
"Then my dad would come in to wake me up and I would 'fool' him because I was already dressed and ready. This worked on me for years and I never questioned it. In hindsight it's pretty obvious that my parents just wanted me to get dressed without a fuss."
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