Girlo
April 25th, 2005, 06:45 PM
OMG!!! :tearhair: The whining has started and it's driving me :crazy: . Alex will be 18 months old on Saturday, and he whines constantly. :( He's not really talking yet....just the odd word here and there. We've been trying to teach him signs for about a year now, and he won't do them - ever. He understands us when we talk or sign to him, but won't communicate back to us.
It is SO incredibly frustrating!!! This is the biggest reason why we started doing Baby Signs with him...so when he gets to the stage when he's getting more independent and can't really talk yet, we can still communicate. Ummmm.....yeah.
He whines about everything - he wants to go outside, he wants to come back in, he wants his shoes off, he wants more crackers, he doesn't want to get dressed or get his diaper changed. You name it. And if you aren't reacting fast enough (like making him wait 2 minutes for his breakfast to cool down before giving it to him) or doing something other than what he wants - look out! Tantrums are not a foreign event in our house! :lol: Sometimes they're kinda funny.....but sometimes they really suck. The part I really hate is wondering if I guessed right! If I think he's hungry/thirsty/tired and he's STILL screaming on the floor, I start questioning my parenting ability. I think I'm a good mother, but I've never done this before...and wasn't raised by a great role model...so who knows what kinds of neuroses I'm firmly planting in his little brain?? :blush:
Okay....good example happening right now! I figured out - finally - that he's hungry. I gave him some crackers, but I don't want him eating a whole box of crackers at once! So, I hid the cracker box and gave him string cheese. I usually pull down the plastic halfway and give it to him. When I hear the plastic rattling (meaning he's probably chewing on it), I go over and see if he needs help pulling it the rest of the way down. I don't want him eating the plastic wrap, so I try to minimize the mouth exposure to it. Well, I go over and he's already pulled it down! :yippee: Good boy!! However, he's trying to eat the cheese still in the plastic...and ending up getting a mouthful of the wrap instead of cheese. So, I take the cheese out of the plastic and hand it back. Wrong!! He starts whining and throws the cheese on the floor and doesn't want anything to do with it if it's not still wrapped in the plastic!! I know this is probably very normal.....I guess I should just take a deep breath and let this stuff go.
It was SOOOO easy before he arrived to make these imaginary lines in the sand about what you would tolerate and how you would handle situations like whining and tantrums. I can absolutely see why parents will do anything to make their children be quiet. :lol: I have to remind myself every time that I need to reward good behavior and ignore the behavior that's undesirable.
Anyhoo.....I don't know what I'm looking for with this thread, just some reassurance that's it's all okay, I guess. :)
It is SO incredibly frustrating!!! This is the biggest reason why we started doing Baby Signs with him...so when he gets to the stage when he's getting more independent and can't really talk yet, we can still communicate. Ummmm.....yeah.
He whines about everything - he wants to go outside, he wants to come back in, he wants his shoes off, he wants more crackers, he doesn't want to get dressed or get his diaper changed. You name it. And if you aren't reacting fast enough (like making him wait 2 minutes for his breakfast to cool down before giving it to him) or doing something other than what he wants - look out! Tantrums are not a foreign event in our house! :lol: Sometimes they're kinda funny.....but sometimes they really suck. The part I really hate is wondering if I guessed right! If I think he's hungry/thirsty/tired and he's STILL screaming on the floor, I start questioning my parenting ability. I think I'm a good mother, but I've never done this before...and wasn't raised by a great role model...so who knows what kinds of neuroses I'm firmly planting in his little brain?? :blush:
Okay....good example happening right now! I figured out - finally - that he's hungry. I gave him some crackers, but I don't want him eating a whole box of crackers at once! So, I hid the cracker box and gave him string cheese. I usually pull down the plastic halfway and give it to him. When I hear the plastic rattling (meaning he's probably chewing on it), I go over and see if he needs help pulling it the rest of the way down. I don't want him eating the plastic wrap, so I try to minimize the mouth exposure to it. Well, I go over and he's already pulled it down! :yippee: Good boy!! However, he's trying to eat the cheese still in the plastic...and ending up getting a mouthful of the wrap instead of cheese. So, I take the cheese out of the plastic and hand it back. Wrong!! He starts whining and throws the cheese on the floor and doesn't want anything to do with it if it's not still wrapped in the plastic!! I know this is probably very normal.....I guess I should just take a deep breath and let this stuff go.
It was SOOOO easy before he arrived to make these imaginary lines in the sand about what you would tolerate and how you would handle situations like whining and tantrums. I can absolutely see why parents will do anything to make their children be quiet. :lol: I have to remind myself every time that I need to reward good behavior and ignore the behavior that's undesirable.
Anyhoo.....I don't know what I'm looking for with this thread, just some reassurance that's it's all okay, I guess. :)