Spitting

My DS, who just turned 3, has started spitting. Sometimes it seems for fun, sometimes to get attention. We put him in time out when it happens but it doesn't make any difference, and this is one bad habit that drives me up the wall. Any suggestions about how best to handle it?

 

This drove me nuts. One of my boys went through a spitting phase. I can handle hitting, kicking etc. but spitting totally gross.

Honestly the only thing that worked was time. It was a phase. For a while I told him we only spit outside. If he spit inside he had to help clean it up. I tried very hard to not draw much attention to it. I found that he did it when he was bored or tired just like he does other things he should not when he is bored or tired. I swear I thought the phase would last forever but it didnt.

 

What if you said in a very neutral tone "oh, that's bathroom behavior. If you need to spit, go in the bathroom." and then walk away and ignore. It's not so much fun to spit when no one is there to watch you do it and freak out about it. That's how we handle potty talk in our house. Sometimes they go in the bathroom and chant poopy-butt and other nice phrases - ha ha.