Why do kids whine?
It’s simple. They whine because it works! Kids know that whining is a sure fire way to get our attention, to get us to give in, or engage us in a power struggle. Whining is a learned behavior and parents are the teachers. It begins when they are infants. They cry to let us know they’re hungry, tired, or need a diaper change and of course, we respond. As they become more verbal and are able to use their words to communicate their wants and needs, we continue to respond to whining. When children are fully capable of communicating with their words, we continue to respond but usually with an irritated tone or a reprimand such as, “Please don’t whine,” “Use your big girl voice,” or “I’m not going to answer you when you whine.” (Guess what, you just did.) Even though the attention we provide as a result of whining isn’t necessarily positive, they still get a “hit” of attention. What they really want is our positive attention, but they’ll take the negative attention instead. We have to rememb
