Whining

[flowerchild]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post.

Can anyone give me suggestions about continual whining? The little one is three and basically EVERYTHING that she says is whining. Even when the situation doesn't even warrant whining. Ie. "what's for lunch?" "Lasagna" "Nooooooo! I don't liiiiiiike lasagna! NooooOOOOOooooo!" And then gobbles down her lasagna. It's like her gut reaction is to whine or tantrum about something even if it's something she likes. Typically, I've been reminding her that I can't understand whining and/or ask her to use her big girl voice. So, she will repeat the question/statement in a regular voice with no issue. Sometimes I have to remind her a couple times before she'll say it without whining. This hasn't cut down on the frequency of it. Is there anything I can do? Or do I just need to keep on keeping on and wait it out?

Thanks!

[5 Little Monkeys]

Ugh, whining!!! lol (I'm known to be a whiner too sometimes LOL)

I do the same as you....remind her that I can't understand whining and she needs to use her big girl words. If it gets really bad, I have told them they need to sit in the hall until they are ready to stop whining. That probably sounds mean...

[JennJubie]

Ugh, whining!!! lol (I'm known to be a whiner too sometimes LOL)

I do the same as you....remind her that I can't understand whining and she needs to use her big girl words. If it gets really bad, I have told them they need to sit in the hall until they are ready to stop whining. That probably sounds mean...

That's not mean.... I have a whiner here, and she gets the same treatment. She goes and sits at the gate at the bottom of the stairs until shes finished and then she's welcome to come back to the group.

[Lee-Bee]

If the child is older (3) and you have been giving reminders for awhile then you can likely just start responding to her whining with "you're whining" and walk away ignoring until she uses a normal voice. Often it is just reinforced at home (or wherever) so much that the child doesn't really realize they are doing it. You want to eliminate it which means, acknowledge what the child is doing but give no more attention.

Say "you're whining" then ignore until the child, on their own, repeats in a normal voice then respond happily... "oh, you'd like a cup of water, sure let's go get that for you".

The child should soon enough monitor themselves and lessen the whining because they get no response.

[flowerchild]

Thanks you guys. I'll give some of those suggestions a try!

Wish me luck!