Traffic pro

When my kids were little I had a simple rule. You can whine all you want but you have to do it in your own room. I think the normal no whining rule is not healthy. It tells kids that they can not get upset. You want your child to learn when it is okay to be upset.

Kids are full of emotions and they have to learn how to handle them or they grow up to be adults that still can not handle their emotions. (I see them everyday)

When my kids started to whine I would say, "I understand that you are upset but it is not something that is important enough to put you in such a bad mood and ruin your day. I want to have a good day and have fun so if you want to continue to whine you have to do it in your room."

I did not physically force them into their rooms because that escalates the emotional outburst. They do not have to ever actually go to their room they just need to know that they can not whine anywhere else.

When I was done talking I would just walk away and continue with what I was doing. If they came up to me a second time I would remind them that they could whine all they want but they have to do it in their room.

After that if it continued I would just ignore them. They do it for attention. If they do not get the attention they want they stop. It helps if they see you doing something that they want to do. Then they really see that whining is a waste of time and they could be doing something more fun.

It takes time for them to catch on but they will learn that whining is pointless.