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How long do toddler tantrums last? What's typical by age

Updated 2026-10-01

If you are in the middle of a run of bad days, the question is usually not "why does my child do this" but "is this normal?" Here is what studies have actually measured, and where they stop.

Most tantrums are short

A study of 335 children aged 18 months to 5 years analysed parents' accounts of recent tantrums, coded in 30-second periods [1][2]. The most common tantrum length was half a minute to one minute, and 75 per cent of tantrums lasted five minutes or less [2]. The same researchers described tantrums as having two overlapping parts: anger, which rises quickly and peaks at or near the start, and distress (crying and comfort-seeking), which slowly becomes more likely as the tantrum goes on [2]. We come back to that shape in What to do during a tantrum.

Longer tantrums were not rare in a community sample of 1,490 three- to five-year-olds recruited from paediatric clinics in Chicago, 41 per cent had had at least one tantrum lasting more than five minutes in the past month, but 4 per cent had tantrums lasting more than five minutes on most days or more often [3]. The secondary clinical reference StatPearls summarises the duration literature as a median of about three minutes, with 75 per cent at five minutes or less [4].

These figures all come from parents' reports of time. Read any "typical" number as approximate.

How often, by age

NHS parent information says tantrums usually start around 18 months, are very common in toddlers, and are far less common by age 4 [5]. StatPearls describes a peak at ages 2 to 3 [4]. The same reference reports figures attributed to the Potegal study: 87 per cent of 18- to 24-month-olds, 91 per cent of 30- to 36-month-olds and 59 per cent of 42- to 48-month-olds had tantrums [4]; we have checked those figures only through that secondary source.

How often is harder to pin down, because studies ask different questions. The Chicago sample provides figures for preschoolers based on parents' reports over the past month:

• 83.7 per cent of 3- to 5-year-olds had had some form of tantrum.
• 8.6 per cent had one every day or several times a day.
• Fewer than 10 per cent showed any single tantrum behaviour on most days of the week [3].

The authors' reading was that daily tantrums were not typical at any age from 3 to 5 [3]. For younger children, StatPearls quotes daily tantrums in about 20 per cent of 2-year-olds, 18 per cent of 3-year-olds and 10 per cent of 4-year-olds [4].

What changes between 1 and 5

In a 2022 study, parents of 861 children aged 1 to 5 reported on their child's tantrums, and 252 of the children were followed up a year later. Across the age range, tantrum frequency decreased while average duration increased [6]. The study also found that more frequent tantrums were associated with later externalising (acting-out) problems, and longer tantrums with later internalising problems [6]. These are group-level findings; they cannot establish what a change in frequency or length means for your child.

What the research cannot tell you

Wakschlag and colleagues note that duration thresholds for preschoolers had not been empirically established, and that their patterns came from a single parent report covering the previous month [3]. What their data did show is that frequency and quality both matter: tantrums that were unpredictable, prolonged or destructive were the less common patterns, while tantrums triggered by frustration, tiredness or daily routines were ordinary [3]. If you are seriously concerned about your child's behaviour, speak to your health visitor or GP [5]. The guide When to seek help goes through what the studies flagged and what they did not.

A practical way to use these numbers

A behaviour diary can help you spot patterns: record the date and time, how long the tantrum lasted, what happened before and how people responded [7]. Our view: comparing your child's recent entries with each other is a more useful starting point than comparing them with a table. The guide How to track tantrums covers what to write down.