Help! My Toddler Won't Share

We have a bit of a sharing problem these days. My almost two-year-old goes around saying “mine!” a lot. Way too often, in fact. His big sister is struggling to figure out how to deal with this new situation, as am I. You would think that since we have a 6-year-old, we are experienced in this stage of toddlerhood and know how to deal with it. Apparently, though, we’ve forgotten how to parent a toddler and need help teaching him about sharing. Can you help us?

Source: Sabine van Vliet/Flickr

The Problem
Baby boy is 21-months-old and doesn’t yet know how to share. This means that at any given moment, he’ll walk up to his sister, my husband, or myself, and grab whatever we have that he’s decided he wants. A lot of times, as he grabs the object away from us, he’ll say, “mine!” If we don’t give in, a tantrum occurs.

The Obvious
We know that we cannot give in to this behavior. We are fully aware that we need to make it stop ASAP and help him learn how to properly share and ask for things when he wants them. We try our best to not let him get away with this behavior and ignore the resulting tantrum, but truth be told, I’m getting tired of the tantrums! I need him to actually learn about asking for items and how to share. Simply not letting him have what he wants doesn’t seem to be working for that ultimate goal.

Request for Help
So, here’s where you come in. Help us! Share with me how you have dealt with this stage of toddlerhood in the past or plan to deal with it. What techniques work for you to teach your toddler about sharing? What can we try? Do you have games, songs, or other tricks up your sleeve for teaching toddlers to share?