Curbing the urge to throw tantrums

While I'd like to have the best solution to this myself, the only thing that works for our son is isolation. We have to get him alone and leave him there until he's worn himself out. We do best when we don't respond to him and let him scream and damage whatever he wants, in his own room.

Remove. Redirect. Reinforce. Repeat.

Remove your child from the problem area or item, redirect them to something they CAN do. Reinforce the proper way to handle the problem. Repeat.

If your child just can't calm down, and you feel you have exhausted the above, then yes, by all means isolate them and do not feed the tantrum by giving them extra attention for outrageous behavior. Remain very matter of fact this is not how we act, now you must be in time out  don't let your ruffled feathers show.

Better yet, help your child curb tantrums before they start by helping him recognize the signs in his own behavior when you first notice him getting worked up. Point the signs out to your child and suggest they find a way to resolve the problem early on, or that they take a cool down in another room or play a different game for a minute. Even if you think your child may be too young to really benefit from being taught this self-awareness,  teaching your child how to think and be aware of their physical / emotional reactions,  is a very important part of being a healthy, self-aware person. Your child might just surprise you by randomly announcing one day that they are taking a time out before they have a tantrum :)