My son has picked up this nooooooo sound and sort of whining tone. Everything is noooooooooo
and he sorts of sings the no and repeats the sound. I am going alittle crazy....


I am happy he is so responsive and knows what he doesn't want (everything) but I wish he would use another tone of voice.

He also is having a hard to accepting no. He just repeats himself over and over again... We were dropping him off at grandma's house and he kept insisting we go to his cousins house.

I am happy he is expressing his wishes but I guess I just want to know how others handle this. I guess it would be typical two year - three old behavior.

Any advice?

By Semperspencer on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 12:22 pm:

I would say, "I know you want to do **** instead, but **** is what you have to do now" or "I see that you are angry about ****", etc. This won't make him more agreeable at first, but at least he will see that you are being understanding and patient with him, and recognizing his feelings are okay. This will also make you feel a little bit better and more composed. The truth is that he is going to have to do things he does not want to do, and it's just a stage you will have to go through to make him understand this.

By Eve on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 04:25 pm:

When Syd is whining, I tell her "Bummer, Mommy can't hear you when you whine." or "Daddy, do you hear something?" and she changes her tone. We try not to acknowledge her when she whines at all. If she argues, I don't argue back. We just say "I love you too much to argue with you." or just a simple "Bummer" works wonders. We also try not to let her run the show by starting a dialogue when she just says "no" or "Don't want to!" A "Bummer" goes a long way in our house! It's frusterating, I know! Hope it gets better soon!

By Semperspencer on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 08:46 pm:

I like Eve's suggestion of saying, "I can't hear you when you whine like that" I'm gonna have to use that when dealing with my oldest ds....

By Barbara on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 10:06 am:

I started this years ago and it works wonders

I just look calmly at the child and say I am sorry, I do not understand whinese. then I would walk off, after 2-3 times they would catch on and tada more whining!


Now if some one has a solution for Teen age Silence and rolling eyes I could use one! LOL unfornuately that I understand all too well!

By Candace on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 01:52 pm:

Great suggestion Eve! I think I will try that. Barbara, I was the Eye Rolling Queen when I was a teenager! LOL I am very good at the Silent treatment as well. I have no advice for you, as mine are still little, although my DS rolls his eyes at me all the time and he is only almost 4! Good Luck!

By Babysitbarb on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 10:51 pm:

I could use some help with the teenager who is also the queen of eye rolling and under the breath of gosh! I try to not let it get to me but, I just get so tired of hearing it. I can deal with her silence because I was a lot like her at that age and I respect her privacy to a point. My husband will say to me all the time, she just doesn't talk to us about anything and I keep telling him it's her age, but she has really been like this since elementary.

By Susan10 on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 12:57 pm:

I agree with Eve about the whining.

Barb, I know what you mean about teenagers. I'm reading a book called "Uncommon Sense for Parents of Teenagers" by Michael Riera which is pretty good. He talks about all the things teens are going through and why they do things that don't make sense, like asking for your advice/opinion on something, and then getting mad when you give it. The big thing is to not take anything personally. I know it's hard. My sister and I talk about this a lot, and her husband says we should stop trying to get our teens to talk and agree and understand, and just ignore that stuff. I think he's right. I guess it's a mom thing. Good luck.