my 4year old swears at me.

Hi,I have a problem my son swears most of the time i've tryed time out in his bedroom but doesn't care.I also tryed a little bit of soap on my finger and put it in his mouth,he screamed and carryed on,after about five minutes i got him to brush his teeth.it has slowed him down but he also thinks it's funny and says i want soap in my mouth after he swears.I have run out of options,please reply if any suggestions.

tammy mother of 2 beau 4years,rochelle 2years.

Hi Tammy,
I also had this problem when my first son was 4 years old. Unfortunately we had a drunk for a next door neighbour, who used to swear at my kids. My son was 4, and my daughter 2 when they learnt to swear. I also tried the soap, but son just thought it was funny to bite a big chunk out of it and eat it. The more fuss I made about them swearing, the more they swore, so I just started ignoring them. If they swore, I said "don't say that, it's not a nice word/s to say," then just ignore any more words they said for the next 1/2 hour. When they don't get the reaction from you they are expecting, it's no longer fun to say the naughty words. It worked for me, so I hope it works for you too. Good luck, and let me know if it works.
Tracey

have you tried something hot?

chilli pepers? mustard? tabasco sauce?

if its hot and you dont give them a drink after they wont do it again. its dramatic but i dont think ignoring them is the key. i dont like hitting with anything but the hand have you threatened with a wooden spoon or anything? take something a way each time he does it the tv a playstation a fav toy. try a reward system if he dont swear all day he gets a star if he gets 4 or 5 or a weeks worth he gets a small something. dunno what else to suggest.

Hi,
I also tried curry powder and chilli, but that just made my son swear at me even more. The hotter it was, the louder he swore. I tried a reward system and taking away his favourite toys too. This worked for my daughter, but not my son. I found out when my son was 7.5 years old, that he suffers ADD/ADHD. He has been on a low dose of medication (not enough to make him dopey), for 3 years now and is a changed kid. We do still have some problems, but as for the swearing, it is nothing compared to what he was like at 4 years old.
Tracey

My son didn't swear but the boy from over the road taught him to call me a "Stupid cow" so I kept telling him to go into his room and call his pillow a stupid cow and the thought of it was so ridiculous that he would laugh....but anyway, after we moved and he didn't associate with that kid anymore it slowly got better. I've also ignored it too....seems the more attention you give it the more they want to do it because they get a reaction...don't give them the satisfaction!!!!

My question would be where is the swearing coming from? Where is he hearing it? Perhaps if you can eliminate the bad example it will slow down a bit.

I don't know how you feel about smacking but I can remember the first ime I told my mum to 'piss off' at age 5 and I copped the hair brush on the bum and that was the last time I tried any of those words out.

hi, i have a 3 year old who came home from visiting dad and new girlfriend and swearing at me i tried everything and nothing worked except i pretended to get really sad everytime he swore and said don't say that word it makes me sad and he slowly stopped now if he hears ant one swears he says don't say that word.

Hi,
I too had a problem with my son swearing at about the same age. I use to put soap in his mouth and tell him he must have dirt in there that needed to be washed away as it was making dirty words come out. If he continued to swear after that I would tell him that the dirt must be stuck in there and we woulls have to get rid of it some other way. I would then put my finger over the top of the tabassco sauce bottle and put a small amount on my finger and rub it on his tongue. He used to complain and cry exclaiming that it was yucky, but I made him sit in a corner for at least 5mins before he could get a drink of water.
This sounds cruel I know, but it certainly worked for me. He wont even say bum now and he is almost seven, he calls it the "B" word now. LOL

I hope you find something that will work for you.

Good Luck

where does he hear it.? a friends son at 3 said to his mother mum get me a bloody drink! when she said excuse me . he said please! . she said i dont know why he said thay. but she was always saying bloody this & bloody that. you need to take a good look around to see who he is copying? if not you then some one else he has contact with.

Have you tried ignoring it? HE knows he is getting a reaction from you each time he swears and although it isnt acceptable, by giving him a reaction each time he does it, he is getting what he wants from swearing. Try and ignore it as much as you can and rather than going off at him maybe just saying in a calm voice "name.. we do not use those words, that is rude" or soemthing like that. If he sees he is no longer getting the reaction he wants he will probably stop. May take a while but this is how I would approach it. Good lcuk

My son has just started this. I didn't react to it at all and treated it as any word he might say. We don't swear in his hearing so assume he picked it up at kindy. He continues to do or say things that get a reaction (good boy, clever boy and so on) so he's only said it twice and not for the last few weeks. I wouldn't put chilli peppers or tabasco on my own tongue, so definitely not on my son's, it seems a little cruel. Not judging anyone else though, not walking in their shoes. Sometimes, whatever works!!! Can I recommend a fantastic book for hints on toddlers? The Baby Whisperer, The Toddler Years. Some great tips and hints in there. Author is Tracey Hogg.
Good luck.

ever heard of a pepper word? called that for a reason.
Rather look at where the words are coming from, slap that person in the side of the head and tell them to un-teach your child