PARENTING WHINING CHILD

Every time that your child calls you "Moooommmeeee" you must want to run away and hide somewhere. Whining has got to be the ultimate in annoying childhood behavior. It is the most irritating thing that a child can do and parents mostly give in to the whining child's desire just to make her stop. Because a whining child sounds worse than a frenetic siren alarm parents tend to do anything to make it stop. Thus your little whiner discovers a great way to get your undivided attention and her demands met. Following are parenting techniques to make your child sp that annoying behaviour.

Ignore
This is the first and foremost thing to do. Never ever give in to her whining demands. Tell her frankly that you will not listen to her unless and until she uses her normal voice. Turn your back to the whining child and ignore her completely. Do your work, read a book, lock yourself in the bathroom or in your room for sometime, turn on the radio. Do anything but do not respond to her demands.

Do not plead
Remember one thing that pleading or trying to explain anything to the whining child will only complicate matters. So do not plead or discuss anything; it will only increase whining.

Motivation helps
Keep a Peggy bank especially for her good behaviour. Put ten-one rupee coins in it. Tell your child that every time she whines or fusses you will take a coin out of the Peggy. Any coins left over by the end of the day will be hers to keep as a reward for good behaviour and for remembering to use her "big girl voice." This technique will act as a good motivation.

Teach
Often children don't understand that what they are doing is wrong and irritating. They do not understand that they are whining and it has to stop. Explain to her what is whining and demonstrate to her if necessary how annoying it is. Tell her that you do not want her to whine and it is a horrible thing to do. Every time she whines put your fingers in your ears and say "yuck!" to show how disgusting it is. That will give her a hint that what she just now did is bad and she will find her regular voice. Help your child by demonstrating what it is you want to hear.

Praise and encourage
Always praise your child's attempts at using a regular voice. Help and encourage her and always remember she needs your help, love and support. Try to say, "yes" to a request made in a regular, polite voice unless and until it is absolutely crazy request. For example, if your child normally whines about having chocolates and cold drinks, and today she asks pleasantly in a normal voice, try to give her at least a small bite or a little cold drink to reward her for her appropriate manners. Make sure you tell her that you like her requesting in her normal voice and that's why you said okay.