I need help getting the whining to stop.

[thefreckledmama]

My 6y/o is a chronic whiner.  Not only will she speak with a whiny voice, but she also makes animal like whining sounds or whimpers instead of using words fairly often.  She literally whines 90% of the time.  It's not that she lacks the vocabulary to express herself, because when she's not whining, she's very articulate.  

I've tried so many things...being patient and encouraging her to use her words, redirection, trying to anticipate things she might whine about and plan accordingly, telling her I can only hear/understand when she talks normally, increasing the amount of time I spend giving her focused attention each day, praising her when she does use words and doesn't whine, etc.  NOTHING has made even the slightest impact.  I'm ashamed to say, it's really starting to affect my relationship with her, because I get so weary of trying to navigate the day with her, and it's getting harder and harder to keep my patience with her.  It's also starting to cause issues between her and her big sister who is 8, and I hate seeing this affect their relationship as well.

I'm desperate for advice and ideas.  

[dormiles]

Have you tried using reward charts? I've seen them making miracles. You will simply have to plan the chart well to make it work, starting out small, and slowly increasing the requirement for new stickers.

[thefreckledmama]

I have, but not with a specific emphasis on whining issues-although we did have a slot for "no whining". I could try doing "no whining" for individual categories, maybe seeing individual rewards would help.

[la mamita]

I just say "I cannot understand you when you talk in that voice. You need to talk in a normal voice if you want me to understand you." and then I don't respond or comprehend what is being said until that happens. I find whining so distracting that I'm not lying---I can't focus on the message when the tone is so grating. Good luck.

[GoBecGo]

I say "i can't hear you when you're whining" and ignore her until she uses her normal voice.  It caused a few tantrums initially until she got that the ONLY way to be heard was actually to stop whining (rather than screaming/punching/throwing stuff whilst whining which is what she tried initially), and now she almost never whines.