3 yo knocking drinks over

[SnglAPmama]

My daughter turned 3 just over a week ago and for the past 6 days, at least once a day, she walks up to the table and purposely knocks over a cup of water. She's done it with both my drink and hers. I ask her to get a towel and we clean it up together, and then I tell her that we don't waste water because it is precious. We talk about not being wasteful on occasion, when it's appropriate. Tonight at dinner, she poured her water on the floor 3 times. I'm not sure how to react from here on. Clean it up and not say anything? Explain that it hurts our Earth and we must be gentle with the Earth like we are with our friends? It REALLY bothers me and that's why I'm looking for advice. I'm not sure if she is testing another boundary, because she's been doing lots of that lately, and I'm not sure how to set this boundary, but wasting water (not to mention cleaning spilled drinks several times a day) is something that I am not comfortable with. I could give her a sippy cup and try keeping my beverage out of her reach, but that seems ridiculous to me. Any ideas?

[AnnieNimIty]

Water is precious. So possibly she should only get so much at a time and if she spills it she doesn't get more. I am not a big fan of rationing food or water for children. They should have as much as they want.... to consume, not to waste.
a) you can give her a sippy cup, keep your drink away from her.
b) teach her that she can have as much water as she wants if she is going to drink it.

So, at dinner, I wouldn't refill it again after the first spill... especially if it is on purpose.
"Sorry honey, that was your dinner water. It is all gone now."

Also, maybe cup toys in the bathtub will get the water pouring out of her system.
With my almost 2 year old we did this with crayons. She drew on the wall, her crayons got a time out and she helped clean up the mural.

[LVale]

I really think the whole water is precious and its hurts the Earth , is really not a concept that a 3 yr. old would understand. First of all if it rains, that is water, it falls down and spills everywhere. Does that hurt the Earth? I am just thinking about how a 3 yr. old would perceive that. Now for her spilling cups over? I would make her help clean it up and tell her a plain and simple "No". That is not acceptable or whatever. I would just be extra vigilant when you do give her a drink, I would not restrict it or anything. Or I would stay by her side and made sure she drank it, etc. If you have your own glass I would just tell her it is mine and don't touch it, period. Just be consistant. Just lather rinse and repeat. HTH!

[PikkuMyy]

The 2 year old I watch was doing this. So when we only gave him drinks in sippy cups and then when we switched to open cups, only gave him a cm or so of liquid. If he spilled it, that was it. If he drank it, he could have more. Over time, we put more and more liquid in the cup.

[BlackSheepPDX]

Might seem silly, but yes, she IS testing boundaries, and unless YOU want to start drinking from a sippy cup, you're probably going to need to keep your full beverages out of reach until you can work through this.

Though it might be a PITA, I'd also agree with only giving her a small amount at a time and making it clear that if she pours it out, she needs to clean it up (do NOT just clean it up for her, she needs to participate), and that she doesn't get more if she does dump it. You can have a little creamer pitcher of the beverage she's having and pour a small amount at a time into her glass...if she drinks it, and asks politely for more, she gets a refill. If she dumps, she's out of luck.

[lonegirl]

Originally Posted by LVale

I really think the whole water is precious and its hurts the Earth , is really not a concept that a 3 yr. old would understand. First of all if it rains, that is water, it falls down and spills everywhere. Does that hurt the Earth? I am just thinking about how a 3 yr. old would perceive that. Now for her spilling cups over? I would make her help clean it up and tell her a plain and simple "No". That is not acceptable or whatever. I would just be extra vigilant when you do give her a drink, I would not restrict it or anything. Or I would stay by her side and made sure she drank it, etc. If you have your own glass I would just tell her it is mine and don't touch it, period. Just be consistant. Just lather rinse and repeat. HTH!

if she is thirsty....give her a drink of water then put the drink up. Or as I have done....except for at meals on the table Tyr gets lidded cups with straws of Foogos

[heartmama]

While it is good of you to take the time to give her logical reasons not to waste water, that is probably not enough of a reason for her to stop. She awfully young to stop doing anything for environmental reasons.

Personally I would switch back to sippy cups and keep all of my drinks in my hand when they were full, and wait for her to outgrow the phase. Yes, I would keep talking to her, and inviting her to clean up if she managed to spill a bit anyway, but I would not spend a great deal of time trying to persuade or 'discipline' her out of this. She is so young, and the situation so easily preventable, I think the wisest course is to revisit sippy cups until she shows more self control.

[SnglAPmama]

Originally Posted by heartmama

While it is good of you to take the time to give her logical reasons not to waste water, that is probably not enough of a reason for her to stop. She awfully young to stop doing anything for environmental reasons.

Personally I would switch back to sippy cups and keep all of my drinks in my hand when they were full, and wait for her to outgrow the phase. Yes, I would keep talking to her, and inviting her to clean up if she managed to spill a bit anyway, but I would not spend a great deal of time trying to persuade or 'discipline' her out of this. She is so young, and the situation so easily preventable, I think the wisest course is to revisit sippy cups until she shows more self control.

I totally understand that she's too young to stop doing this for environmental reasons, I just feel it's a small learning opportunity to mention it and hopefully it will add up over the years and when she's a grown up, she will have more respect for the Earth and will be in the habit of conserving water, etc. I'm wondering if this might be an opportunity to help her develop a little self control? Perhaps I will let her know before a meal that this is her drink for the meal and if she spills it, she may not have any more (until after the meal, of course). Otherwise, during the day I will keep my beverage out of her reach. We are both "sippers" throughout the day, whereas my friend will chug a glass of water here and there, so I try to keep water for us both within reach. Maybe for this we will use a sippy and just do regular cups for meals.
She always helps me clean it up and I think she enjoys that, which might be part of her reason for doing it? And it is not as if we don't spend a lot of one on one time reading, playing, etc...I suppose there are no easy answers but I appreciate you all taking the time to offer advice! Thank you!!!

[abi&ben'smom]

Maybe let her play in the sink? Put a little water in there with some plastic bowls, cups, etc. My dd and her friends still looooove to do this, and she is 8! They did that for a couple of hours the other day.
We've done a towel on the kitchen floor with a big bowl of water in the middle. Add cups.
Dumping water is fun. But more fun for you if it's not a big mess on the floor! And I would probably switch to sippy cups for awhile, and keep my drinks out of reach.

[Roar]

Originally Posted by abi&ben'smom

Maybe let her play in the sink? Put a little water in there with some plastic bowls, cups, etc. My dd and her friends still looooove to do this, and she is 8!

I agree. Sensory play with water, sand, beans, etc. is an important part of development especially during the preschool years. I would suggest offering more of this kind of play before it gets to the spilling situation.

I understand your desire to help her learn about the environmental responsibility, but really I believe all you are teaching her at this point is that adults don't get her and she's messing up. I don't think that accomplishes a lot.

[SunshineJ]

Yeah this is why even though people looked at me like I was nuts, both my kids were still restricted to sippys and straw and lid cups at that age. I did my job in making sure they were capable of drinking from a regular cup before that, but I just didn't have it in me to be constantly cleaning up spills, whether intentional or accidental!

[mamazee]

I would definitely get her a sippy cup and not make such a big deal of it. She's only 3 and there's plenty of time to teach her to protect the Earth. She's just going to feel overly controlled if you restrict how much water she can drink.

[Mama Mko]

I wouldn't restrict water. I'd just go back to sippy cups for awhile.

[Aliyahsmommy]

I would help her use that urge in a more appropriate way. I would buy a mini pitcher and put water in it and leave on the kitchen table along with a small cup. Then as she gets thirsty during the day she can pour her own water. I would explain that if she uses the pitcher properly then it can stay on the table for her to use, but remove it if she uses it just to spill on the floor. I would think that maybe getting to pour her own drinks might be enough incentive for her to stop spilling the water...hopefully

[lmk1]

Dh found this article for me:
http://www.earthsky.org/interviewpos...degrasse-tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist. Here's another article where he mentions how to encourage kids to be scientifically minded.
http://www.americanscientist.org/boo...degrasse-tyson
"When my daughter was two and she poured her cup of milk on the dining table and watched it drizzle between the leaves, and then drip down to the floor, she was performing experiments in fluid dynamics."

Is it wasteful? Sure, if you're thinking of it as spilled milk. If you're think of it as self-education, then no. It depends on your perspective, I guess.