Whining
May 9, 2008 by Sherry Osborne
Filed under Parenting
Everyone knows what you’re supposed to do with whining – you’re supposed to ignore it and not give in because that’s essentially rewarding the behavior that may possibly be the most grating of all childhood issues.
But seriously, has anyone seen any success in stopping the whining? Because my two year old is gearing up with it (though she does still tend to lean more towards tantrums than whining) and my five year old still does it, especially when she’s tired and crabby, but really any time seems to work for her.
It drives me mental. I don’t make a habit of asking for advice on the Internet because it can be a bad idea sometimes but I’m wondering if anyone has a secret beyond “ignore” to get your kids to lay off the whining. It doesn’t have to be a 100% stop. I’m in my 30s and I still whine sometimes when I’m tired or not feeling well. But if I could cut it down a lot, that would be really great because I’d hate to have to duct tape ear plugs into my ears.
Which is where this road is leading, to be honest.
I tell them “I can’t understand you when you talk like that” and go about whatever I was doing. If they keep it up I’ll repeat it once more and then ignore until they stop. They haven’t completely grown out of it yet but it does get better!
I whine right back.
Him: “Mommmmmy…”
Me: “Whhhhhaaaaaattt?”
Him: “I don’t wannnnnt to!”
Me: “Whyyyyy are you whiiiiiiiiining?”
Usually, we both end up giggling. If he’s in a really bad mood, he’ll stomp around a bit, but the whining ends once he realizes how ridiculous he sounds.
This is what I wrote in my blog about MY daughter’s whining last April. It might help.
http://lillhawkins.com/2007/04/27/would-you-like-a-little-squeeze-with-that-whine/
Shine On,
Lill
I’m like Heather, I don’t response to it. But just know it will stop. eventually