Is Your Child a Whiner?

We've all been around a child who whines until you want to send him or her to their room for at least the next 30 days. Instead of taking action that will stop the whining, we often find ourselves joining them, until it almost becomes a contest to see who can whine the longest, if not the loudest---and it doesn't even begin to solve the problem.

My nephew, the father of several children told me that he thinks those times that babies seem to be crying endlessly for no apparent reason are rehearsal times for whining later in life. "Practice makes perfect," he says.

I suppose, if you're like me, you've tried depriving the child of something he or she wants; giving them time-outs; and even administered a swat or two on the behind. (Come on now, be honest.) If the child is normal, none of these things work very well, at least not for any extended period of time.

Below are a few ideas I've picked up over the years that have resulted in various degrees of success, depending on the age of the child. Feel free to grab one of them and give it a try at your house.

1. Play deaf and pretend not to hear the whining.

If they are reasonably intelligent, they will stop the whining when their throat gets sore from overuse.

2. Tape 15 minutes, or more, of their whining.

Whenever they start to whine after that, send them to a time-out chair in their room and make them listen to the tape for 15 minutes.

3. Use the old "Cuss Word" technique.

They have to put 5 cents in a jar every time they whine. The 5 cents has to come from money they have earned by choosing a chore from a list you have prepared ahead of time.

4. The 100 dribble cure.

The whiner has to take a basketball outside, (or in the garage if the weather is bad), and dribble it 100 times before they can come back inside. The second or third offenses increases the number of dribbles they have to do.

5. Turn whiners into writers.

Fill a notebook with blank sheets of notebook paper. Each time the child whines, he or she has to write a chapter in the notebook about "Whiney," an imaginary child who just happens to look exactly like your own little whiner. Give the notebook a title, pictures, etc. Each chapter has to be a certain length, depending on the age of the child. (The mom I got this idea from had a "Screaming Meemie," rather than a whiner in her house, and the stories were really fun to read.)

I hope one of the ideas above helps solve your problem. If not, you may want to add a 6th; the one I call, "Escape." That's where you beg, borrow, or steal someone to babysit for an hour or two while you make your escape to a nearby, hopefully whineless, coffee shop with a good book to help you enjoy some well-deserved quite time by yourself.

About this Author

Jeanne Gibson writes from her home in Springfield, Oregon. Her article topics include marriage, divorce, kids, cats, electric bikes, working from home, and senior citizens. To learn more about handling difficult children, read her blogpost at: http://sowingseedsthatmatter.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-get-children-to-listen-and-be.html

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