Toodler talks too much

[mezzer]

Recently, my dd (just turned two) won't stop talking. In the last few weeks, the language flood-gates seem to have opened. Part of me is thrilled to see her language developing and hear what she thinks about the world. The other part of me may end up in the looney bin. At night, it takes HOURS to get her to fall asleep because she just won't stop talking. I've always laid down with her until she falls asleep (that's for another thread!) so I don't know what to do to get her to be quiet and go to sleep. Should I ignore her string of questions and observations? Any other tricks?

It's mostly an issue about sleeping but sometimes I just want 5 minutes of silence during the day. Am I being unrealistic?

this is so refreshing to read!! mostly people are worried about their child not talking enough!
my dd soeant speak a great deal, althought this last couple of weeks she has come along in leaps and bounds. but what sh does say, she repeats over and over again. just tonight she broke an egg. all i have heard is 'mummy broke egg, mummy egg broke. egg mummy, broke egg'
it does drive you mad

Thats so sweet. My dd3 talks for England too...just tire her out in the day and read books at night asking her questions about the stories and pictures etc
That way she gets to use her new talent and it is not just burbling on aimlessly

Ignore questions after bedtime by all means, and celebrate her vocal activities by day.

Have one with hyperverbal skills and one with diagnosed speech delays (and a NT one too!), so whilst i would be glad- Ok it CAn be hard work at times!

It's sooooo great that she is doing well with speach, I definitely don't want to imply that I think otherwise. It's the endlessness that sometimes wears on me. Lizandlulu, I can relate. It's endearing and funny at first but after the 50th time, I have to drag out the plastic smile ... Yes, dear, you broke an egg. Mm-hmmm, yes. Really, an egg? Maybe I just need to learn how not to respond...

Tonight I will try to read to her till she drops. Course she doesn't really let me read as she can't stop talking about the pictures for long enough!

Yes you are being unrealistic - that's what toddlers do (bless 'em)

I looked after my little niece this week and found myself giving fake answers just so she wouldn't ask me the question again!

Me - Ooh look Emily, that wall is being painted (you know how you do)

Emily - Who is painting it?

Me - Well i don't know, the decorators I suppose

Emily - Who is it?

Me - I don't know

Emily - But who is it?

Me - It's Dave and his friend Mike

Ah, yes. I am dreading the day when she learns "why?" Not there yet but I know it's coming...

It's all wonderful and cute and lovely but, God give me patience!

ah yes, you spend 2/3 years encouraging them to talk/ waiting for thse first words. Then the next 10 wishing they'd shut up

Then they turn into teenagers and you can't get a word out of them again.

Dd has'nt stopped talking since the age of 2 (she's 4 next week), last week the lady who owns the vilage shop said to me 'does she ever shut up', the answer is no apart from when she's asleep
She talks abount anything and evrything and when she gets fed up of talking english she speeks french.

I so know what you mean! My DD is now 4 and literally talks non-stop from the moment she wakes up til the moment she goes to bed adn it is sooooooooo draining and exhausting.

I remember having a similar problem to you at bedtime and in the end i said very firmly to her that she needs to stop talking now as it's time to go to sleep (I also used to lie down next to her til she fell asleep). Talking to her very firmly did work and she got the message and did stop talking and fall asleep. Sometimes though she has fallen asleep mid sentence! I am lying there thinking she will never go to sleep as she's chatting away and next thing i know i can hear her snoring!

I know how you feel, my only saving grace is that DD is now FINALLY at full time school so i get a break from 9 til 3. On the other hand DS is just starting to talk and seems to be talking rather a lot for my liking, i don't think i can cope with 2 chatterboxes!

professor

i get this too about my ds who is 4 now, but has been a mad talker for about 2years.

People in shops always kind of stare at him, then look at me and say "oh my goodness, he just doesnt shut up, does he?" (but in a nice way)

And my sister finds him hysterical, she has 4 boys of her own, and she says if any of hers had chatted on and on and on like ds (ooh he loves to do it in the cinema too), she wouldve done a runner by now.

dd1 is a chatterbox and has been since at least age 2 - she recently wiped my sister out when she looked after her for a day, she said she was physically and emotionally exhausted from the constant chatter and questions ! However dd2 is nothing like this, and just not as chatty, and I really wish she was sometimes. We'll be pushing ds along in the buggy, I'll be chatting away while she stands on the buggy board, and I just wish she would suddenly start whittering away about whatever is on her mind. She is nearly 4 and dd1 is 5. dd2 seems much happier in her own head I guess.
As for ds he is saying mama dada and ta at 8 mo, and is constantly yattering, so I guess I'l have another chatterbox on my hands. Personally I Love it !!!

Your stories have made me

She's not going to stop talking anytime soon, is she? Sigh.

I just need to master the art of not responding / firm voices about being silent.

When I tried the "be quiet, it's time for sleeping" she just responds with
"quiet?"
"Yes, it's time for sleeping"
"sleeping... quiet... (insert babbling on and on here)"
"DD, shhhh, you'll wake daddy"
"Daddy? Wake? He asleep? Daddy?"
"Shh!"
"Shh (she says as she points at her nose). daddy sleeping. quiet. sleeping daddy?"

and so it goes.

ARGH

Bless her ! It will change when she starts school. dd1 is so tired after a full day now she can barely bring herself to answer my non-stop questions. I miss it so much ! Can'tthink where she gets the chattiness from...

Through the day I patiently answer DD (aged 3)
Why? When? Now? Later? Why? etcetc But come bed time there is NO more chat. You need to preserve your sanity.

So a nice round of patience pills for the daytime and firm-voice pills for bedtime. And maybe an extra run around the block to tire her out.

Trying to make the most of it all and reminding myself to jot these little conversations down before I forget.

Also, she's just got hold of this remarkable skill and cannot resist trying it out whenever possible - a reply is a bonus! They really do just like the sound of their voice!

Yes, you do have to answer their questions, you know .

It's the only way you get them to shut up.

My four step-children could all talk the hind legs of a young donkey until they turned thirteen. And they've just been grunting ever since.

Soooo, with my talkative ds, I try to bear it in mind. The silence is worse, believe me

mezzer congratulations on your beautiful chatty chatterbox. have a well deserved glass of wine and a Quiet bath candles etc when you have got her to bed

Ah, this is such a lovely thread - so nice to hear everyone else's stories. My DD is 2.5 and has chatted non-stop since she was 2. She said her first word "picture" at nine months (am not trying to brag-off, honest guvernesses) and got so excited that she literally crawled up and down her cot until 1.30am saying "picca picca picca". Things just kind of escalated from that point on.

Now I am also a committed member of the fake answer club - there's nothing else for it once they discover why? DD also loves to mimic exactly what I say, with exact intonation, so I am often spoken to in hilarious mirrored patronising tone that does remind me constantly that she's a toddler, not an imbecile! As for bedtime - it's never been a huge problem as DD has about 5 different cuddly toys and would far rather talk to them for 90mins before dropping off than she would to either myself or DH .

must be wonderful actually. I'd give anything to be fed up with chatter as dd 4 can't speak and never will. Celebrate it.

To echo what other have said - I actually tell my dd's no talking when it is lights out time, and then I don't talk to them, unless really vital, and then in a whisper. If they are asking me a question (good delaying tactic) I remind them there is no talking now. Mine are 5&7 btw, so I am afraid it doesn't necessarily change that much..
I also introduced them to audio books, and they listen so intently that they don't talk! Good one for when you need some silence.

dd 2.3 is another chatterbox and since Xmas we've learned "why"!

everything is why and it is both hilarious and exhausting.

i promised i would always give an answer to a why and never say "because" or "because I said so!" and that lasted about a week

my CM has 18 years of childcare as a live in nanny as well as childminding. she says with every new charge she vows never to retreat into "because" and she always fails LOL.

it is something to celebrate and enjoy and have fun with but it can also be very tedious!

For bedtimes I find telling dd what tomorrow's activity will be (pre-school, Grandma's etc) and that she needs to be quiet and go to sleep otherwise she'll be too tired to enjoy it. It's quite successful.

altho as I creep out of the room it's quite often to a very sleepy last gasp "whyyyyy"

Thanks for the stories. needmorecoffee - I'm sorry. I know that it is nothing to complain about and we are all VERY lucky to have chatterboxes. But, chatterboxes present their own challenges to our parenting-skills (or sanity, really) and so that's why I started the thread. I don't, in any way, want to seem like I don't realise just how blessed I really am.

Peterduck, I wonder if I could get away with reading my own book as she babbles off to sleep. I suspect she would want me to read it to her. Worth a try, though.

Sycamoretree - I am trying to encourage relationships with her cuddly toys but she just decides that I need to make them talk to her so it's not really working.
DD "Lucy wants to talk"
Me "Yes, why don't you make Lucy talk"
DD "Lucy wants to talk, mummy talk"
Me "You could make her talk..."
DD (becoming exasperated) "Lucy WANTS to talk!!!"
I am running out of things to say. I'm not much of a chatterbox myself.