How do you teach them to whisper?

[TwoBlue]

Hi all

My DS is 23 months old and EVERYTHING is yelled !! This can be quite difficult when in a situation where quiet is appreciated eg: at church or the library

How do i get him to whisper? I cant seem to get him to understand the concept.... or he just doesnt want to....

any advice???

[poshBecks]

Tracey,
We whisper to Cj all the time & when we start to whisper so does he!! He thinks its a fun game. Tho he gets a little excited sometimes & then yells!!

Just whisper to him a lot & see what happens... :rolleyes:

good luck!!

[the_queen]

All kids are different, but this worked with Vallerie (starting when she was 2, and now she just needs reminding every now and then when she's over-excited. And she is really good in church about this kind of thing now):
I just whisper to her, something like "hey can you whisper like me? I bet you can't whisper quieter than mummy!" etc etc, you know, modelling appropriate behaviour. Also I tried not to get cross at her about it, I would whisper to her "it's hard being quiet isn't it, but in church we need to keep our voices very quiet so everyone can hear what Pastor is saying" etc etc. Or just accept the inevitable and take her out into the foyer where I can still hear the service :rolleyes:
The library, I talk to her before we go inside, about using our "library voice" which is just above a whisper. And I never talk louder than that inside the library.
Also, and this depends on the individual child's understanding, I say to Vallerie "do you know, I can actually hear you when you talk quieter, so you don't need to talk so loudly." Or I'll say in a really quiet voice "hey, can you hear me right now?" when she says yes, I'll say "well if you talk this quiet as well, I'll be able to hear you too, so we don't have to shout at each other".
:) Hope that helps a bit!!

[Chickadee]

Hmmm. I cant' remember how we taught Chloe. By example I guess, using both a finger over my lips as a sign and by whispering to her. I also tell her to do some things quietly, like closing cupboard doors (instead of slamming them :rolleyes: ). Maybe make a game out of it to see if he understands the idea?

We now play a variant of peekaboo where DH and Chloe hide under a sheet or blanket and I find them. While hiding DH whispers that they have to be quiet or mummy will find them. She usually screeches in laughter at some point anyways, but she understands the concept of whispering.

I don't think she could maintain a quiet voice for more than 5 minutes though, especially if boredom set in.