5 tricks to stop your kid from whining

A guaranteed annoyance every parent encounters is persistent whining. It is after all, a time-honored kid communication ploy. Why do they use this tactic? Well, simply to toy with your emotions. Here are some tips to counter excessive whining…

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1. Teach them early

You need to teach your child to ask for things politely from an early age. This means saying "please" is more effective than whining and wailing. Thank your kid and praise him for doing this well—"Thank you for asking so nicely."

2. Rephrase your sentences

Commands like "Stop whining" are pretty much useless. Instead, you can say, "Sweetie, just ask. You know I don’t like it when you whine."

3. Get them to be independent

Train your child to be self-sufficient—"If you really want something then go and get it if you can." This will teach them to be independent.

4. Give them a taste of their own medicine

Never respond in a frustrated or angry tone. Why? Because this is the very behaviour you are trying to fix—an adult version of whining.

When your kid starts whining you can whine back teasingly. When your kid sees this, coupled with the absurdity of seeing a parent whining, he will realize that whining is actually a silly thing that gets them nowhere. Reverse psychology, baby!

5. Tease them out of it

Another thing you can do is pretend that the whining is actually coming from a really small animal making a noise—hidden somewhere. Go like" "Hey, did you hear something-- that whining noise? Sounds like it is coming from you. But it can’t be because you know not to whine when you are asking for something. I’m sure you’d say please and ask in a normal voice, so there must be a baby hippo or a puppy in your shirt pocket. Let’s find it."

Written by

Felicia Chin

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