Terrible Twos? Try Acting Like Your Toddler

S A N T A   M O N I C A, Calif., March 5 -- It looks weird, and it sounds crazy, but a renowned pediatrician says that the best way for parents to put an end to the terrible twos is to bring themselves down to their children's level, and talk and act like toddlers themselves.

"You say, 'no, no, no," said pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp, who helps parents communicate with their toddlers by essentially teaching them to talk like a caveman. Karp calls his own special language "toddler-ese."

"It's not the normal way we talk to kids," Karp said. "But I'm telling you, that's the normal way kids talk to us."

To demonstrate his caveman comparison, Karp points to the boisterous Bam Bam character in The Flintstones.

"It's no accident that the toddler in The Flintstones was named Bam Bam," Karp said. "Toddlers are passionate and they don't follow the rules. They're uncivilized. "

In a way, Karp views toddlers as primitive thinkers akin to prehistoric man. When he works with their parents, the California-based pediatrician divides them into developmental groups: the "Charming Chimp-Child" (12 to 18 months), the "Knee-High Neanderthal" (18 to 24 months), the "Clever Cave-Kid" (24 to 36 months) and the "Versatile Villager" (36 to 48 months).

ABCNEWS' Good Morning America tracked two sets of parents from Santa Monica, Calif., as they experimented with Karp's "toddler-ese" in an effort to get control of their toddlers. The parents also recorded their own video diaries to chart their progress.

Favorite Phrase: ‘Go Away!’

Kathleen and Adam Chamorro filmed their 3-year-old son Christian howling, hitting and kicking as he threw a tantrum in the park. But at other points on their videotape, the toddler had a sweet demeanor.

"It's amazing, because you can have highs where he says your name and he comes up and gives you a hug and it's just, that's the greatest thing ever," Adam Chamorro said. "And then two minutes later, he's thrown his food across the table and you just want to strangle him. "

Christian's favorite phrase of the moment, is "Go away! Go away! Go away!" He uses it often.