How to Deal With Whining
Facebook 
Get Our Newsletter! 
Print
Stay calm
What if you’ve already given in to your whining toddler more than you like? You can always change your behavior. “If a child has always gotten what he wanted with whining, then it will be hard to change that behavior at first,” says Karen Carter, M.D., a pediatrician in Augusta, Ga., who specializes in developmental behavior. “But if you state calmly that you’re not going to listen while he whines, then it will decrease,” she says. Keeping calm when confronted with a whining, upset toddler is key. “The more unemotional and matter-of-fact you can be, the better,” says Lerner.
A calm demeanor can diffuse the intensity of a child’s frustration. “You can say, ‘I can see you’re upset and I know you want something, but it’s hard to understand when you’re whining.’” It might very well be that you can’t give your child the strawberry ice cream cone she wants. Staying calm can help you both fi nd a solution. “You can respond by saying, ‘I can’t get that for you right now, so let’s think about what we can do,’” says Lerner. “This keeps the conversation positive.”
Just gotta try this Creamy Avocado Dip recipe via Momables.com - love how you can spread it on a sandwich in lieu of Mayo! 
Comment by Alisha on Sep 09 2010 10:07:46:
What about a whiny eight year old? My son still tends to whine and it drives us all crazy. When I have mentioned it to others they suggest that he is reverting back to a toddler because of his 17 month old sister but he has been whining even before she was born, or even conceived. And I know good and well he can communicate his frustrations verbally. How can I respond to his whining?
Comment by Kim C. Cannon on Dec 27 2011 07:52:15:
There are lots of complaints about whining children, so as a former teacher and grandmother of nine I offer the following suggestion: Frequently it helps for children to be read fun-stories that illustrate the unpleasantness of bad behavior and ways to correct it. Sometimes children don’t understand how annoying the sound of whining can be. My latest children's book, "Peter and the Whimper-Whineys" by Sherrill S. Cannon is a story of a little rabbit who does nothing but whine. This rhyming book should be read with alternating normal voice and whining voice, according to the character speaking. Children learn that Whimper-Whineyland is not a fun place to be, not just for all the whining and crying that goes on but for all the other unpleasant character traits exemplified! The book can be found on amazon.com where there is the read-inside-the-book feature, as well as on bn.com. I hope that this might help your child as well as it has helped my children and grandchildren!