DS 2.8 Swearing

[MollyTheMole]

Suggestions on how to deal with a potty mouthed 2.8 yo please!

Hes said the odd swear word before but has never repeated them. Unfortunately hes picked up "fucking hell" from an episode when DP forgot DS was around and it seems to be his new favourite phrase.

He doesnt use it in the right context so he is just parroting something interesting he has heard, and we started off ignoring it which seemed to work for a little while, but last night he said it a good few times on the trot and its just horrible to hear so I told him that its not a nice word and to please not say it again. Think this was a mistake as its now turned into a game with him

Im also worried hes going into nursery saying this and the nursery staff are going to start thinking badly of us. Ive asked DP to have a word with his key person tonight when he picks him up to ask if he is doing it in nursery and to also acknowledge that we are aware so they dont think we are just heads in the sand about it.

Any suggestions? Should we go back to ignoring him as acknowledging it seems to have been a mstake, how have others handled this?

Next time he says it, say "do you mean ducking bell? " and trick him into saying that instead.

Or you could start saying "ducking bell" a lot and hope he switches.

Or you could say something innocent like "french fry" a LOT and hope it becomes his new favourite phrase.

I agree with crazygracie, try to trick him into saying something innocent. A tip I read was to make it into a big game, with a silly word: "You better not say "gobblydegook"... if you say "gobblydegook" you'll be in big trouble. Right, that's it, I'm coming to tickle you now, you better not say "gobblydegook" again!"

In contrast, ignore whenever he swears, so the silly word is fun to say, the swear word is boring.

At an age when they are merely parroting something they've heard, the best thing to do is divert them away from it and actually, I found ignoring the swear words and replacing them with silly, harmless expressions was best.

However, this may only work up to a point. Only ds2 was selectively potty-mouthed since he knew exactly what were and weren't unacceptable words. His tactic was to save his most, er, robust expressions for my MIL's house. Being a bit of a piano leg coverer, she nearly fainted dead away when, aged 3, he smiled winningly at her and then asked "Could you pass the buggering butter, please Nana". Another unfortunate incident involved a jug of "fucking gravy". Had he not been rewarded by such a hoo-hah the whole thing would have been nipped in the bud immediately though. As it was, I used to have to take him away from the table and withdraw pudding privileges.

Ironically, ds2 is now particularly intolerant of people swearing in front of his baby daughter! So there is hope...

Not as severe as yours but i said 'crap' in front of my 2.7 ds and he decided to shout it over and over. We were looking at a book with sea creatures in it at the time though so I said 'oh yeah, look it's a crab'. Thankfully he started shouting crab instead. I agree though, ignoring it or turning it into a silly word might help.

Sorry mad day yesterday with newborn DS2, forgot how you get virtually no time to yourself when they are this small

Thanks for the advice, think we will start turning it into something innocent and see if that works. Unfortunately he went into nursery this morning and sure enough, clear as a bell shouted "ahh fucking hell". DP took the nurseyr worker to one side and explained hes picked it up and we are trying to deal with it, and although I was worried about being judged I didnt actually think they would see it as a massive deal (thought they must have come across this before IYSWIM?) but DP said she made a bit of a big deal about it wringing her hands as if shes never heard a kid say it before. Maybe she hasnt but surely my DS cant be the firrst kid in this place to have picked up a swear word?

oh I dont know.......but as I said thanks for the advice guys. Will report back. (and am PMSL at "fucking gravy")