cleaning out your child's mouth

How can I curb all the "bad" talk? They will get each other going talking about poop and pee and other odds and ends that really aren't appropriate to talk about constantly. It drives me nuts. Drives my husband nuts. I feel like I've posted on thus before so forgive me if its a repeat. Its still going on. Ya know, I get the innocent giggles of that subject but my boys talk about it everyday. Somebody even references it and off they go on it for hours.

Another question I have is what do you do when you are disciplining one and all they do is have a smirk on their face and they are laughing? Whew does that get my goat. How can I handle that? If we put him in time out he just laughs and thinks its funny.

Not liking this phase. Help!

 

1. With the bad talk-in my house, I tell the offender that the subject is not appropriate to talk about (i.e. at the dinner table or where ever). I do think it's an age thing because my two find poop, pee and farting to be extremely funny. I don't give them much of a reaction because I feel it fuels the talk.
2. The smirk and smile, oh that grinds my gears too, what I do is I take a beloved toy and put it time out for a day or I put the TV or leap pad in time out too.

Mine are 5 now...I can assure you they are smirking and smiling less when they are trouble and the "potty" mouth I do believe is an age thing.

 

I'm on my phone so I don't know their ages but I know I've written a similar post!
We started using soap after the word stupid came home from daycare and any time they said poop. Seemed to do the trick. We just swiped a toothbrush along a bar of soap or a drop of liquid soap and wiped it on their tongues. Now when it start to get out of control they get a warning then soap, we haven't done it in a few weeks
Now if Hannah would qui calling everyone stinky pants

 

Please be aware that "washing the mouth out with soap" has brought parents up on charges of abuse. Yes to some it might seem extreme that it would be considered abuse but there have been cases. In Florida a child ended up in the hospital after the mother put soap in her mouth and she had an allergic reaction. Her two children were removed from the home. It varies by state of course. Soaps and detergent are not meant of consumption and small amounts of chemicals add up. So just a bit of an FYI. Please be careful.

I really think you can find other ways to help your child choose better words.

 

Using potty language is, for the most part, an phase they go through at this age (although it seems that boys, and a lot of men, never outgrow it! :lol: ). Personally, I have always just reminded them that there is an appropriate time & place for that type of language and that doesn't include the table, in public, etc. Other than that, I find that the less of a reaction they get from us about using certain words, the less they will use them. They are experimenting & the fact that they can get us to react is fun for them.

As for words that you don't want them to use at all (swear words and, in our house, the word stupid), I just always remind them that we don't use words like that in our house and that I think they have a big enough vocabulary to come up with a more appropriate word. Sometimes I challenge them to come up with as many words as they can that would be a better word than stupid in whatever sentence they used it in. Surprising how many they can come up with & sometimes it becomes hilariously funny. Overall, I don't put a huge emphasis on words and I don't punish for using them. I just try to make them understand that they don't want to offend other people, so they need to be somewhat careful about what they say in public.

 

I just wrote this on another thread, so sorry if repetetive. When my little ones start in on the bathroom talk, I say, "Oh that's potty talk. If you need to talk that way, go in the bathroom." Then I walk away. For other "not nice" talk, I calmly say "Oh we don't talk that way" and then I redirect them to a new topic. I think the more you react the worse it gets.

As far as the laughing during discipline, I would ignore it. The point is whether your intervention changes the behavior over time. They don't need to scream and cry in order to get the point.

 

I was also going to say, when I taught kindergarten we did 'potty words are for the bathroom' and if a kid missed the warning they would go to the bathroom.

 

I do the same as Laura. I tell them potty talk belongs in the bathroom. They sometimes follow that rule, but that's the way it is. DH hates it when they use the words and will get upset with them. I tend to just remind them where they belong and when it's not acceptable to use those words. That at least seems to stop them from using the words.

I'm grateful it's a phase and they'll stop. I try not to make it a game for them and not react as much, but it does happen.