Why-why-why-why-why-why-why-why-butwhyyyyyyy?

[ChristyMarie]

Oh yes, DS (4) has reached the WHY stage. Driving me insane.

I've tried answering, I've tried asking him what he thinks, I've tried expanding the conversation, I've tried asking him to repeat my answer, I've tried a "No WHY questions in the car" rule. I'm going insane.

How do you get them out of this pattern?

He does it when he wants to talk and clearly doesn't know how to keep a conversation going sometimes without it but the but why but why but why but why is going to send me over the edge.

[mizzoh]

for us it seemed to be a phase that he eventually passed through ( like so many things!) i tired all the things you mentioned - answering the why, asking him what he thinks, occasionally saying "stop asking me questions!" when i was tired and frustrated ...i think it must be a developmental phase they all go through and sometimes just keeping that in mind can make annoying behaviors easier to deal with ( for me at least)

[LynnS6]

They grow out of it. Ds started the why stage 1 month before his 3rd birthday and it lasted pretty much until he was 7. He asked why so much that I just automatically answered why to most things.

It was maddening. We did the "no questions for 5 minutes" rule when I'd had it, with moderate success.

The one thing that helped a little was asking "why what?" Then he'd have to think about why he was asking why. This helped in particular for those dialogues that made no sense. "What's that mom?" "That's the Willamette River." "Why?"

Why? Why is it the Willamette? Why is it a river? Why is that there? "Why what?" made him stop and think. (And got me a bit of a reprieve while he thought about it.)

Just keep repeating to yourself that it's a sign of an active curious mind. Eventually, he'll be old enough to google the answers for himself (that's what ds does now).

[vrclay]

My "I'm out of patience" response is - I'm not sure, why do you think? Then he provides a plausible answer and I want to scream...Well, why did you have to ask me? But I hold back and say, huh, yes, that makes sense.

[lyterae]

We instituted a rule that she couldn't ask single word "why" questions.. We told B. we'd be happy to answer her questions but she needed to ask "full" questions. For example when I tell her we're going to the store and she asks "why", I would ask that she ask a full question so I know EXACTLY what she's asking. Most of the time it wasn't even what I thought she was asking.

It did help cut down on the incessant "why?" that was driving us all crazy.

[texmati]

can you ask back "why not?" Lol, I feel for you mama's!

[asraidevin]

My daughter (7) needs to know everytimng that is happening. if i say "oh" or "darn it" she's right beside me going "what?" until i answer. and "never mind" doesn't work.

[MamieCole]

I knew this thread was going to be about a 3 or 4 year-old before I opened it.

When I feel like I simply can NOT answer one. more. question. I say "I'm not sure. Let's write down your questions and you can ask Daddy when he gets home." heh heh

Or "I don't know. Let's call Grandma and you can ask her."

I do, at times, enjoy the journey we take with the string of DS's questioning. Just the other day, a conversation that started with "Is Daddy someone's son?" ended with the questions "Why can't I have a uterus, too?" and "Well why can't I have a baby in MY tummy and then get a lady to feed the baby with her nursies when it comes out of my tummy?"

[Forestwalk]

I also went through this phase. It can be frustrating, but I just kept reminding myself that it was my chance to explain things and for dd to understand a little bit more. I found if I gave a clear, simple answer dd would recite the information back at a later date, which always made me smile. I agree with asking "why what" or so that you are answering the specific question. Children are so knowledge thirsty! It's incredible.