Whining - Maineville,OH

My daughter did the same thing for awhile. Once I realized she was just whining, I would tell her to go to her room until she was done. I told her I didn't want to hear it and she could come out of her room when she was done. It usually lasted less than 5 minutes and she would come out of her room and say "I'm done!" I never made a big deal of her being "done" either. I would say "good, because I can't stand that whining." The whining went away after a couple of weeks. Good luck to you!

Hi S..
I not an expert on whining, but what worked for me with my child, neices, and nephews, is ignoring it. I spoke clearly to each of them a very early age of 2 or 3 and told them what I was doing and what I expected of them. I told them if they were to whine to me I would not listen to them, and when they were ready to talk to me like a big girl or boy in a clear voice I was here to listen to what they wanted to tell me or ask me. It worked with every single one of them. I have 6 neices, 2 nephews, and 1 son. It may take a little practice because you don't like to ignore a child and because children get use to the way things are and don't want to change. As long as you enforce what you tell them it should help. Don't forget to have your family follow your lead so your children know this is what is expected all the time(except maybe when their sick - that can be rough). Good Luck!!

Hi S.

I dont know how you usually handle the whining. But I also have a 3 year old who tends to whine alot. She speaks very well so it is extremely frustrating when I hear her whining. What I do is I tell her a few times that I cant understand her and to talk like a "big girl", if/when that doesnt work I tell her when she is ready to "talk nice" I will talk to her and not until then. Then I walk away. 9 times out of 10 she will follow me speaking clearly.

K.-

I have an idea that may be far fetched but I wanted to share it anyway....
I noticed that you also have a 6 month old. I'm not sure how long your 3 year old has been doing this but it may be that she notices that her little sister gets a lot of attention from crying/whining so she may be trying to reach out for that same attention. It is not uncommon for children to do this. If this is the case then it is important to remind her that she is a big girl and her sister does that because she's a baby. Then go on to say that it is good to be a big girl because you get to do... (whatever she likes to do) There are also many children's books, most of which you could get from the library, that adress simular situations and teach kids that it's ok to be jealous and want attention but it's not ok to act like a baby. I can't think of any titles off the top of my head but if you find that this is the situation then let me know and I will look up a couple of titles.
Hope that helps!

My 2 1/2 year old daughter slips into whining when she's crabby (tired or upset) and I share the advice you've already heard. I tell her that I can't understand what she's saying when she whines and that she knows so many wonderful words that I love to hear. She usually perks up and gives me better tone. I know how annoying this can be! :) I like the advice about the new baby effecting her and I also wondered about the transition to preschool. I saw that this is a new development and sometimes these transitions can cause regression. Also, try to "catch her being good" and compliment her when she uses good words and no whining BEFORE she starts to whine. I try to say something like, "Wow! I love the way you're using great words and talking so nicely." That sometimes prevents her from slipping into a whine-mode! :) Good luck!

E.
Married, mother of 2 1/2 year old daughter, part-time SAHM, part-time special education teacher (1-4 grades)

There is a lot of good advice.
It looks like there is a lot going on in her life right now, which brings out the whines. While that makes it understandable, it's not acceptable to you. That being said, I agree with several of the others, ignore it. My five year old whined (or talked with babytalk) from three to well, he still does sometimes. My comment to him is "Mommy doesn't speak whine. If you have something to tell me, use your nice voice." I leave it at that. If he persists, I simply repeat "I don't understand whine." Sometimes he never got around to it, other times he'd take a deep breath and say what he needs to say. Try to make sure that others in her life are consistent too. Eventually she'll get it and speak clearly.

I don't know, my 2 year old does the same thing. if you find something tht helps, PLEASE let me know

Here is my personal opinion...
Ignore it. It is amazing to me how good kids are at reading adults and manipulating. If she knows that it bothers you she is going to do it more to get what she wants. Don't give her what she wants or acknowledge the behavior. It gets boring if you don't get any response after a while! Good luck