Whining can be very irritating. My one year old daughter whines all the time – when she’s having her diaper changed, when she wants milk and sometimes she even whines for no reason at all. Being the primary caregiver of a child is no easy task, add a whiny toddler to the equation and it’s enough to drive one crazy.

In order to effectively deal with whining, people need to understand why children whine in the first place.

The time a child reaches one year old is the same time he or she establishes independence. This is the time when a routine such as bath time is met with disapproval mainly because it was not their decision to take a bath in the first place.

There’s nothing more kids this age want but independence. They want to make their own decisions, but they are met with too many options that they don’t know what to do or choose and that’s what causes their frustration.

Kids are also developing emotionally around this age. There’s a lot going on in their bodies and in their mind that it’s impossible for them to handle it all at the same time. Another thing to remember is that kids do not have the ability to express their feelings, they don’t have enough vocabulary to say what they want to say and that’s why it comes out as whining.

As much as possible, ignore the whining. The more negative reaction you give to it, the more reinforcement you give to the behavior. There’s no guarantee that it will cut off the behavior right away, but whining is a lot like temper tantrums, ignore it and your child just might stop doing it.

When you’re very frustrated and your child’s whining, give yourself a break and step out of the room. Take a deep breath for a few minutes to calm your mind and remind yourself that your child is going through a phase and that it will pass soon.

To find out more about the best ways to deal with behavioral problems in toddlers we suggest visiting this website about three year old behavior.