We are all delighted to have children endowed with the ability to speak. For anyone who has had a child who was slow to start talking, we can appreciate hearing those little voices when they ring. However, if your child is an incessant chatterbox, he can be very rewarding on the nerves of the whole family. It is not uncommon to see some children who cannot go more than a few seconds without vocalizing something. If you can’t help your child understand that quiet time and listening are important, you run the risk of people perceiving your child as an irritating pest with no limits.
Here are some tips for shutting up and talking non-stop:
1. Don’t let your child interrupt adults or other people when they are talking. Keep the young man from intruding on the conversation and ask him to wait her turn. It is the perfect time to explain what it means to be rude if your child is at least 5 years old and can understand this concept. Warn the child to stop interrupting. If you need to time out your child for interrupting a conversation, by all means do so.
2. Using a timer is a great way to limit a talkative child. If your child barks throughout dinner, set an egg timer for 5 minutes and tell him to put the food in his mouth and chew and not talk during this allotted time. After the timer goes off, allow him to speak in a focused manner. For example, ask her what she did at school that day. When you’re done, reset the timer for another five minutes and start over. This allows you to see that there are beginnings and endings to the conversation and that other people also have a turn to chat.
3. Rewarding quiet time is another great way to make your little chatterbox appreciate quiet moments. When your toddler is quietly playing with a toy for a few minutes, be sure to tell him how proud you are of him. If you’re talking to his son and you’re patiently waiting his turn, be sure to give him a big hug and comment on how wonderfully you listened and waited for his turn to speak.
Allow your child to be a mouth mover from time to time. Sometimes children have a lot to say and they have to get it out. Don’t ruin your child’s pent-up emotion if he sees that he really has something important to say. Let him say it all, and then allow him to refocus.
For those of you who have children who are a bit quiet, be glad for the silence, it probably won’t last long!