I have had it. My four delights in testing my husband and I with his "potty talk". I have tried time-outs, ignoring it, taking favorite toys or activities away, but he just can't go for an hour with out a song about poopies or penises or "baginas" or butts or peeing...small potatoes to real problems, I know. Looking for any success stories so we can minimize this showing off behavior in front of relatives and the general public :) Trying to get good manners, and overall the kids do well, but now the 2 1/2 year old is joining in since she delights in making her brother fall over with gales of laughter :(
Well he LOVED the bathroom, and relished going in there! Seemed to give him even more attention, so back to the time-outs. With consistency we have really nipped it in the bud (TOs outside, at the beach, etc, he slips, but quickly corrects and heads to time out most times willingly. This was coupled with me out of commission/crutches for 6 weeks, so both kids were testing the boundaries. Mom is BACK at the helm :) Surgery all over again in October so wish me well!
Kind of like a ghost--stop reacting to it and giving it energy!
(I'm sorry, I have an 8 yo boy and the potty talk tends to get more elaborate over time! His newest lyrical composition is called "Ballsack Lightening"!)
It's a phase, so I try to ignore it. We do try to talk to our 4 (almost 5) year old about proper behavior in different situations, and that seems to have really helped. He goes to preschool, a babysitter, grandparents houses, etc., so we've talked to him about the fact that rules might be different at different places. Also, we talk about the fact that he has to behave a certain way in church. We apply the same rules to potty talk. It's fine at home, a place where I really want him to feel relaxed and not worry so much about what other people think, as long as it's just us. If we are out or if we have company, we need to stop the potty talk.
We've found that it works for the most part. Also, I do strongly believe that kids need to learn that different places have different rules and there are certain places and times we need to behave more properly. The more we talk about that now, the easier it will be in the future.
I have found that ignoring words and talk that aren't desireable seems to work the best. When my then one-year-old took up the use of the word "sh*t", constantly, I just ignored her and she stopped in a couple of days. Giving it any attention makes them want to do it more.
Well, at least he is using anatomically correct language.
It's a natural phase. I agree, take him to the bathroom.
When my SD was 6 she got into a potty talk phase and we'd just ignore the song (meaning we didn't comment about not singing about poop), walk her to the bathroom and ask her if she had to go potty. If not, we let her sing her little heart out there. She thought it was cool for a while because of the way the bathroom echoed, but she soon got bored of it and would walk out of the bathroom and play something else. It lasted about a week and then she stopped. Well, she never stopped singing in the bathroom...sometimes we can hear her belting out Miley Cyrus while she's on the toilet!
totally agree with the potty talk in the bathroom-When my son would start in I would calmly tell him that he needed to head to the bathroom-after a few times of talking to himself in the bathroom it wasnt nearly as fun. Good Luck
I know of people that only allow potty talk in the bathroom. Tell your son he is allowed to use those words and make up songs only while in the bathroom. When he starts using them take him to the bathroom and leave him there. When he is done he can come out. I think this really would cut down on the amount of potty talk there is especially since he would be lacking an audience.
Maybe if you replace the songs with another ... we found word replacement worked for us when my son was picking up some potty language ... he does not make up songs about it though ... the immature side of me does think it funny though.
My 3.5 year old is doing the same thing. I am going to be stalking your answers.
Try letting him play in the bathroom when he talks like that. Tell him potty talk belongs only in the potty (bathroom).
My 3 year old son just started talking about penises and poo-poo quite a bit. He loves to show me that "its big!" and look for poo-poo. I think its ok as long as he follows the rules which I am strict about. I told him those things are private and ok to talk about at home but not in school or in the store. I make it really specific as to where its not ok. Then I can remind him that we talked about it and he agreed. It's really hard not to laugh sometimes but if setting up boundaries doesn't work (my son is a really good rule follower) then telling him how unhappy you are might. You really have to know your son and what motivates him.
It's not small potatoes! All the kids I know who were allowed a little potty talk when they were tiny graduated to saying terrible things and having no manners. My one friend's 5 year old is nicknamed (unbeknownst to her) by all her friends, "The Dark Prince", because he says horrid horrid scary terrible things.
One calm warning, and a calmly delivered spanking if it continues. No grudges after, just the assurance it will happen again if he says it again. None of my kids got past eye rolling or small disrespect that way, so tons of discipline was avoided AND they never say bad things. Be tough. It's the difference between a potty mouth kid or a nice one. ALL kids hear bad things, only some get away with speaking that way in front of adults.
Don't get me wrong, my kids are allowed to sing about vaginas and penises all they want in front of ME, but they know it's not allowed anywhere else, and they take it seriously when I say to knock it off. You can be more flexible once your control is firmly in place.
