How can I stop my three-year-old greeting neighbours with rude words?

[Kate8889]

My three and a half year old enthusiastically greets our neighbors with "Hello, poops!"

I've tried everything I can think of to discourage this, I've talked to her, I taken away privileges.

Please help?

That's so much milder than the 'hello fuckface' I was expecting from the title.

Havr you spoken to the neighbours? I would be inclined to ignore her and just say hello 'neighbour name' to model what it should be.
she sounds great though😀

Just ignore it and stop making it into a big deal! Can’t believe you are resorting to taking privileges away from an 3 year old - she’s likely doing it because she’s getting so much attention from it! And if you are really stressed just say to the neighbours privately that you are sorry she said the word poop. I think 999 people out of 1000 would find it quite funny and remember their children being like this though as opposed to taking offence.

I wouldn’t ignore, I would correct them everytime and I would apologise to neighbours. A firm “no thank you, that’s rude” then model the correct greeting, hopefully they’ll soon get it. I wouldn’t remove privileges.

Just removing screen time, it'll only help her in the long run is how I see it

How much screen time does a 3 year old have ?
🤔

Up to 30 minutes a day for us to have a break

I truly wouldn’t bat an eyelid if either of my two said this or a 3 year old said it to me. At most I might say oh that’s cheeky don’t say that but generally this is just kid being kids. Don’t sweat it

I disagree, it’s rude. There’s too many parents who say ‘kids being kids’ and that’s why we’ve got so many children who do what they want!
I would continue to be firm, maybe choose something else to remove if screen isn’t working

I don’t have any answers but my 4 year old has started doing recently. She’ll quite often greet my dad (so her grandad) with hello poopy head. Drives me mad. I say to her no it’s hello grandad but she doesn’t listen. I’m hoping its a phase which will pass as my eldest never was like this. Sigh.

Maybe the neighbour is a bit poopy? She calls it as she sees (smells?) it?

That’s hardly rude. Just ignore.

A 3 year old should not be having any screen time at all.

Perhaps as well as saying it’s rude substitute a different greeting like “but never ever say happy hello “ or something that she thinks is far worse then poop head and she’ll prob repeat that instead and it’s not offensive !

Are sure she isn't saying "peeps" as in "Hello People".

😀😀😀

Keep on modelling the correct way to greet neighbours. Maybe a reminder before you leave as well ''If we see Mary or Brian from next door, we say hello and we don't call them poops because it is rude''.

I always give a warning and then a time out if my 3 year old does whatever he's doing again.

At the age of three, I'm not sure that a child understands the concept of delayed consequences, such as removing screen time that evening for something said earlier that day.

As others have suggested, modelling and immediately rewarding the good behaviour and ignoring the bad behaviour is likely to be more effective. Children's desire at that age is attention, not reward, so a punishment is a form of attention and the child sees it as better than being ignored.

My nephew went through this phase and everyone recognised it as the "bum jokes" phase that he'd grow out of.

Raise your voice a bit dont be passive aggressive a firm "ive told you not to say that again" wont kill them the screen time removal wont be associated with the word you need to associate immediate consequences not "later on when everyone has forgot what you did im randomly going to stop you watching a screen"

Removing screen time is ridiculous and not remotely related to the offence. Just say, calmly, “No. That’s rude.” and leave it at that. Stop rising to it!

The more you tell her to stop the more irresistible it will become to her. She thinks it’s hilarious! Don’t laugh, and don’t give out. Just ignore. The novelty will soon wear off.

Could she be trying for a different word? E.g. "hello babes/peeps/pops"? I remember very clearly my eldest (now 15!) went through a phase of shouting various profanities in attempt to get real words out, which I thoroughly enjoyed but had to feign embarrassment and apologise when needed. "I'm sorry, he's getting to grips with his words and it's not how it sounds." usually sorted it out if there was offence. Most people laughed. Including a vicar. They probably don't mind at all and just love their little hellos from her ❤️

A 3 year old shouldnt have any screen time anyway.

Just be firm, firm teacherish tone of voice, annoyed tone of voice, raised voice each time. We do not call people poops.

3 year olds don’t need screen time. It’s lazy.

Rather than shove her in front of a screen (presumably to scroll your own phone) do role play with her on how to greet someone. But ultimately don’t make a massive deal out of it. Most children find poo, bums, willies hilarious.

I’d want to make absolutely sure she means ‘poops’ and isn’t trying for something more innocuous, as PPs have said.

My DS, at around the same age, would point at pictures of any fearsome looking dinosaur and shout “look! A CUNTasaurus!!!!” with excruciating emphasis on the first syllable. He meant carnotaurus 🤦🏼‍♀️

Don't worry about it. A small, random child called me poopyhead as i walked past her in the park a while ago. I just laughed and kept going 😂

This.

Make the child apologize too.