DS 2.7 years old does A LOT of complaining - how can I deal with it?

[moneli]

My DS gets frustrated very easily and complains and whines almost over everything. It drives me a bit potty. I tell him that I can't understand him when he whines and that he needs to talk properly if he wants some help, but that doesn't seem to be making a whole lot of difference. I'd really rather approach it from an encouraging angle. Does anyone have any tips?

Tis the age, huge surge of testosterone on it's way.

I would distract and ignore, ignore and distract!!

Another thing is the stalling tactic....ie. when Mummy finishes with the hoover we'll play a game or can you find me three sheep.

I feel your pain. I thought I had the whiniest child on the planet.
The things which help are:
not expecting too much of her eg. cutting back on the complicated days with lots of activities, visitors, cafes, playgroups etc
playing with her devotedly for a set amount of time, then explaining that now she would need to play on her own for a bit while I . Seems better than half paying her attention all the time.
Praise praise praise when they ask nicely
Finding things she can do on her own eg. pants down on her own, turning taps, pressing microwave buttons, carrying lemons etc. and finding every opportunity for her to do these "to help mummy".
A large gin and tonic (for me)

Will be interested to see others' tips.

One thing that worked on my ultra whiny 3 year old was to start flopping about a la Kevin The Teenager, and whining "I can't heeeeaaaaar you, you're not whhhhhiiiiinnnnnny enough, whhhhihiiiiine more for me, wahhhhhhhhh!"

In the same awful "MehmehmehmehMiiiiiiii!" tone that they do

colditz that's hilarious, I am definitely going to try that

Oh yes, I tried that too the other day with my 4 year old who is the world's biggest moaner. Honestly, he really is. He complains and whines about EVERYTHING. Even just washing his hands at the sink he has to moan: "Waah, my sleeves are falling down/my sleeves are too tight up my arm/my sleeves are wet/I can't pull my sleeves down/I can't reach the towel......"

AAARRGGGHHHH!!!! He is a pain in the arse and to be honest he has been that way since birth. The world's biggest complainer! (Fab when not in a moany mood though!)

I moaned at HIM for a change, in a big whiney voice and he just stared at me open-mouthed and started laughing, the change in him was amazing! Sometimes I think his moaning is just a habit.....

So yes, that's a fantastic tip of Colditz's. Definitely try that one. Although I think it's only in the last 6 months it's made him laugh - when he was younger (probably your DS's age) it used to wind him up and make him much worse, but it's certainly worth a go.

Colditz - I can't wait to try that tomorrow on super whingey dd2...bring on the whinging

Great tips, thank you. He definitely likes nothing better than having my attention 100% so playing with him for a set amount of time and then explaining that he needs to play by himself for a little bit will help. I will try to gradually extend the length of time so that maybe I can make myself a cup of tea without him complaining that I need to play with him! I also love the idea of whining back at him and will give it a go too but suspect that his sense of humour will fail him!