whining toddler

[journeywoman]

My 17-month-old is a whiner. This morning I found myself yelling at him several times because he wouldn't stop whining--mostly because I was trying to get us both ready for work/daycare and didn't have enough arms to both pick him up and do what needed to be done

Comments

[land_girl]

If you don't respond to whining, then they grow up knowing it doesn't work (none of mine have whined and I think this is why). It's the usual thing: give them lots of praise when they are doing it right, and ignore them when they are doing it wrong ....

[pocketnaomi]

Grace isn't much of a whiner but she gets into it occasionally. I usually tell her she's being boring and I'm not going to listen to her till she says something more interesting. Then I ignore her, or if I have to do something involving her, I do it matter-of-factly (like buckling her shoes) with no eye contact and no words. As soon as she's stopped for a few seconds, I'll brightly ask her about something I know she likes to talk about. It usually turns her attention.

Granted she's a little older than your son (she's 26 months) but I did something pretty close to that when she was 17 months too... I think I substituted offering something she liked to play with, in lieu of asking her something she likes to talk about. She did talk at 17 months, but not enough to converse on a topic, let alone like to do it.

[ailbhe]

I whine back. She starts laughing pretty quickly. Admittedly, she's not a natural whiner, and picked it up from another toddler very quickly one week, but whining back seems to work.

[tiggsybabes]

Both of mine whinge & I did actually read an article that said that a lot of babies / toddlers whine a lot. Made me feel a bit better about it. I tend to whinge back, though I do give in at times & pick up the 17 month old as she stops whinging if she's carried around.

[mummygeorgie]

My natural reaction is to yell as well. Ugh. I have to take a deep breath and I usually tell her that I can't hear her unless she asks nicely.