Oh the whining...Change in 2.5yo behavior

[olien]

Wow. I just can't take it anymore.

My DS is 2y10mo. He has always been a cryer/mild whiner. All of a sudden last week all hell has broken loose here. There has been a full blown tantrum every day & the whining is absolutely non stop. Even when asking for the ketchup at dinner - he whines for it - not asks for it. UGG!!

Is there some developmental stage at this age I am unaware of? I think it is something because he also has been saying he cant do things & needs me to do them, like hold his water bottle while he drinks & feed him.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Off to post on gently discipline - which is not going well at this time...

[crunchy_mommy]

My DS started doing this about a month ago (27mos) so maybe it is a stage. I found what works best with him is just calmly ask him to "ask nicely"... Sometimes I need to show him (especially at first) that yes, I am going to give him what he wants... So in your case, pick up the bottle of ketchup as if to hand it to him, then ask that he restate his request in a better tone of voice before handing it over. Then as he gets used to that, you can ask him to restate it before making any motion to comply. Then you can move on to saying 'no' (if necessary) even after he's asked nicely. Basically, reward the 'nice' requests a lot at first, then slowly taper off & hopefully he'll continue asking nicely. It seems to be working with my DS so far... Oh also depending on his mood, I might join him in the whining a bit and he cracks up at that...