Tantrums!

As I was saying yesterday, Josh was just in the Urgent Care last Friday. He wasn't there for himself that time. He was just the driver.

He took A, our 2 year old. She was throwing her nightly bedtime tantrum and decided instead of her usual fit that this time she would tear her nightlight out of the wall-which broke the bulb. When she did this we saw a flash in the hallway, so it must have arced. Luckily she wasn't shocked or injured too badly. She did get some small burns on 2 of her knuckles but the doctor said he didn't think anything else happened and that she would be fine. (He was right, the marks have cleared up a week later.)

We need advice on tantrums. Please!!!! We have NEVER dealt with these before. Our first 2 daughters were little angels. Ok, I'm kidding a little, they did throw an occasional fit here and there but what toddler doesn't. A bounces herself off of the doors. She runs her nails down the walls, (give me fingernails on a chalkboard any day) which hits a nerve. She scratches and pinches the closest person to her. And then just like that-it's over and she acts like nothing even happened. 

We do make her apologize to whomever was involved. And we explain to her that throwing a tantrum is naughty. These are the things we have tried:
I've tried to ignore this behavior-it just makes it worse. I've tried to put her in the middle of a room so she can't hurt herself, but that doesn't last, in no time she's up and at a door or wall. I was talking to some of the moms at dance class and one of them suggested to put her in the high chair. I would try this... but we fear that she would try to pull her hair out or gouge her eyes or it would end up tipping over. My mother-in-law used to put A's aunt in a cold shower to "shock" her out of it. I'm not sure if that would be the right thing to do now???? (Back in the day it's what the pediatrician recommended.) 

The only time she throws these fits is at nap time and bedtime. She used to go to bed great-lay her down and walk away and she was out within 5-10 minutes. Not now-30 minutes after being put to bed she's usually still screaming or crying. I have absolutely no idea what brought this on either. She is scared of the dark all of a sudden too, that's why she had a nightlight to begin with. She no longer has a nightlight. Josh picked up a "glow buddy" while at the pharmacy getting her prescription filled. It is NOT glass and it has a timer on it.

If you've dealt with tantrums what worked for you? Did your child just grow out of it? Did your pediatrician recommend something? We have an appointment coming up in a couple of months but until then I'm willing to try anything creative and safe. I'm pretty sure that part of the reason behind the tantrum is that she's trying to tell us something, but she's not as vocal as her sisters. They are constantly talking for her, poor girl never gets a word in. We have told M and C to stop talking for her, but old habits aren't given up easily.

PS. A couple of side notes:
To help her communicate more we do baby sign language and I'm constantly reading to them to help build their vocabularies. Also, we've attempted the "super nanny" bed time technique where she lays them down and walks away and repeats until the child gives in. We're not sure how many hours to do this??? After 1 1/2 hours of trying this the other night we were exhausted. I don't think this technique would be so bad if she didn't throw herself around when you're trying to lay her back down.