Help with 2 Year Old Whining

I know how you feel. That whining really gets under my skin. My 3 yo has finally stopped whining (mostly) but now my 2 yo has begun. I do the same as the other moms have posted. I tell my kids I don't understand what they are saying and I can't help them until they speak clearly in a big boy or big girl voice. Then I go about my business and don't give them too much attention until they talk without whining. I smile and use a happy voice when I tell them how nice it is to be able to understand them and help them.

If they were whining about something they aren't allowed to have or do I then use a time out type approach. I might put them in their rooms and let them know they can come out when they are finished. Sometimes I remove myself from the room (or go to a different area of the room) and tell the kids I'll come back when they are done whining.

Hi Shell,
My little girl whines sometimes too. It seems to be more so when she is around friends who do so. What I have found works for us is I explain to her that mommy can't understand her and she need to use her big girl voice. I do not give in. She will follow me around and whine and I simply keep saying the same thing until she does infact use her big girl voice and then I get down on her level with a smile and we talk about what she wanted. It has cut down on the whinning 95%. One of my friends recently told me, they are all babies and instead of telling them what they can't do, tell them what they can, and see how they will shine.
I hope this helps.
Diane

I agree with Diane, I used to tell my kids that I didn't understand them in that tone and if they wanted me to listen they had to talk like a big boy.
I also think that it is a phase but you are absolutely right that it seems they whine more when they are with friends who whine. It goes the same with tattling!

The whiners! We all go through it and probably did it ourselves as children.

My only suggestion is to never give in to whining. If my son wants something, and asks in a whiny voice I ALWAYS make him repeat in a nice voice. I have even upped the anty recently and told him he needs to say, "May I please have a drink Maam?" If he asks in the whiny voice, I simply give a stern look and he changes his tone immediately. Consistency is key with all behavior. Best of luck!

My daughter is about the same age and has started doing the same thing. What has been working for me has been ignoring her and pretending that I cannot understand what she is saying when she whines. At first she actually gets worse, but eventually she stops.

Hey Shell,

I wanted to tell you that to this day my son has a tendency to whine when he wants help or really wants something. The trick that I found to work the best is to look at him and say "I thought I had a big boy. I bet I'll hear better when you talk like a big boy.", or something along those lines. He usually sucks it up and realizes he's got getting what he wants until he stops whining. There were a few times I actually whined alone with him until he realized how silly it sounded. Good luck.. this can be a hard habit to break!!

Smiles,
E. B

you explained it, so try not to explain it again; say, "i can't hear whining, i only hear your nice voice"; try to ignore the whining and repeating (it's brutal though; i have the exact same thing with my 2.5yo)

All I can suggest is to be firm, don't explain yourself just say NO and stick to your NO. Do it now because if you let them get away with it when their young it never stops...trust me we were a lot more lax with our youngest and she is 10 now and a whine Queen!! It drives me nuts and I'm kicking myself for giving into it when she was little. Good luck.

I always said to my boys, "I'm sorry, honey, but mommy doesn't speak whine. Please use English and then I can help you." Honestly, whining was never an issue when I used that approach. Oh, and if you 'give in' to the whiney request, that only reinforces that whining works, so either she asks the right way or she doesn't get whatever. You can also try tape recording her when she's whining - I did that with my stepson to show him how he *really* sounds and that helped him be more aware (he almost instantly stopped whining as soon as I clicked the 'record' button, though! lol).

The best thing to do is ignore her when she whines. If she sees that it will not get her any attention, she will eventually stop. Have patience.

I feel your pain. I have a 15 month old and he whines too. I've been told to ignore it but that's hard when you've already been awakened at 5 or 5:30 in the morning and get a constant whine until you feed them at 6 or 7 and he whines until we go to daycare then starts whining again at 5:30 or 6pm when I pick him up. I feel guilty b/c I work and think maybe he whines b/c he misses me but then he does the same thing on the weekend. What do you do with a whining 15 month old? I have chosen to ignore it as long as possible

Ha! Let me know if you figure it out! My 2 1/2 year old is spending a huge portion of his life in time out!