SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – A new product called Tantrum 911 claims it can calm children down with a quick smell of a fragrance, so ABC 4 decided to further investigate the product and evaluate its claims.
Child psychologists and most parents would agree that tantrums are normal for toddlers; however, the makers of a new product called Tantrum 911 say that instead of just nurturing a child through an emotional outburst, parents can also use the secret fragrance blend to calm a child.
On the Tantrum 911 website, the company claimed that “during a tantrum, the fragrance blend is brought to the child’s nose and something similar to rebooting a computer occurs… Interrupting the tantrum and giving your child the chance to calm down.”
However, Douglas Goldsmith, Ph.D. says the special oils in the bottle are no more than a redirecting tool, which could just as easily be a toy or candy.
“This is going to quickly wear off. You are not going to be able to use this time after time,” said Goldsmith.
Goldsmith added that the Tantrum 911 product could even worsen the situation:
“Most children, when you are trying to put something in their face that is intrusive, are just going to get more furious and kick and scream.”
When contacted via telephone, Kim Pomares, the maker of Tantrum 911 said that such facts are not true. “This is something that will work every single time” said Pomares citing that chemicals released in the brain when smelling the pleasing product scent which would relieve the child’s outburst.
“With olfactory stimulation, the brain sort of forgets that it is tantruming and can relax naturally.”
But Barbara Insley Crouch from the Utah Poison Control Center said there is a potential risk from the essential oils in Tantrum 911 if a child did resist it.
“The kid is writhing around they could easily splash it on themselves, they could easily swallow a small amount of it… It doesn’t take very much to get down the wrong pipe and cause problems,” said Crouch. “Essential oils are the primary problem with them. If they are ingested, they could easily go down the wrong pipe and get into the lungs.”
Crouch said the oils could cause severe pneumonia in the lungs and a rash on the skin.
Parent testimonials on the Tantrum 911 website have given the product vastly positive reviews, but the experts disagree.
“From an attachment perspective, it’s a critical role for the parent to help children learn how to calm down, and the parent is really essential in that, not a bottle of oil,” says Goldsmith.
