How to Make a Baby Stop Whining
Few sounds are more irritating that that of a whining child. A baby who whines repeatedly can be typecast as a problem child, and could lead to difficulties in school and with making friends as she gets older. There are many reasons for whining and your child may not even know when or why she's even doing it. The sooner you crack the code as to why your child is whining, the quicker you can make it stop.
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Instructions
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Avoid taking it personally; every parent has had to deal with a whining child at one point or another. Many babies and toddlers aren’t even aware they’re whining and have no clue as to why they're doing it. Whining often crops up at emotional and developmental milestones. Many times, whining is a sign that a child wants independence, but is fearful and ambivalent about getting it at the same time.
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Refrain from reinforcing the behavior. Don’t give in to requests or demands said in a whining tone and don’t comfort your child when you hear it. If you show praise during whining, you’ll do nothing to extinguish the behavior and only turn it into a bad habit that will be even harder for your child to break.
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Make your child restate the request in a normal tone of voice. Lay down the law that whining is not acceptable and show him that you won’t budge until it stops.
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Model how you want the child to talk to you. A young child with a limited vocabulary needs to be told how to ask for things in the correct tone of voice.
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Reward your child when she corrects her whining with a normal tone of voice. Try to accommodate the child’s request, once it’s been made the right way. This will reinforce good behavior and put out the bad.
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Spend more time with your child at times when he’s more whiny. Often times, whining is a cry for attention.
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Tips & Warnings
Try to figure out why your child is upset to start with. Often times a child will whine when she’s tired or hungry, because she does not have enough language or foresight to realize this is what’s upsetting her.
Make sure you’re calm when talking to your child about what you want and lead by example. If your voice gets louder or you get flustered, you’ll be sending mixed messages that are much harder for a young child to follow and learn from.
Make certain that your child is not sick. Sometimes, a child will whine when she’s sick and doesn’t know how to handle the illness, especially if she has a fever.
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