The clingy, whiney child

[sunnydays]

Okay...so what do you ladies do with a child who is CONSTANTLY clinging to your leg, whining or crying about something, follows you around like a lost puppy dog all day long calling your name plaintively....you get the picture. I have a 2 year old dcg like this and she is driving me bonkers...I swear she cries every ten minutes about something and when she isn't whining and crying and saying she is hurt or tired, she is causing problems with others (toy stealing, pushing, pulling, hitting, etc). She is, in other words, an EXTREME attention seeker. I have been trying to ignore for the most part or downplay all her many reasons that she cries or whines...I try to give her attention when she is being good...etc. What am I missing here???

[playfelt]

Assuming the parents drop everything and cater to every little whimper, whine, etc in an attempt to not have the child upset so it is a learned behaviour.

Give her a chair or spot to sit when she needs your attention ie she can't come after you but needs to go and wait for you to come - kinda like putting your hand up in school, lol. In time she may sit and then change her mind if you take too long to come and go back to playing. When she comes directly to you say no sit and I come to you, and eventually no words just point to the chair and then you don't budge till she has sat and stopped crying and is waiting patiently.

Much of it is about teaching her to wait. Wait for attention, wait her turn for attention, become more self sufficient.