A Child Who Repeats Over And Over

[WImom]

I've never had a child (will be 3y in April) that did this before to this extent anyways..

Is this just a phase or are there some tips to what I can say to her to lesson this?

A few examples (I could go on and on but I won't)

In my bathroom at christmas I had a reindeer that hung on the door knob. I took it off middle of december because it was distracting them from washing hands. EVERYTIME we are in the bathroom (3-4 times a day) she asks where the reindeer is. I tell her I put it in the basement until next christmas. She still asks me and it's March. I finally told her we aren't going to talk about the reindeer anymore. (I felt mean but I didn't know what else to say)

At meal times if she tells me she's done (I have them do that so I can clean them up before they leave the table) and I say Okay, I'll be right there. She will continue saying "Miss ____, I'm done!" every 10 seconds or so until I'll there. (Even if I repeat my self). Or if I tell everyone that the food is all gone when they ask for more (After they have had 2nd's) she will continue to ask for more.

She also repeats alot (WHen I'm reading books out loud she will repeat things I say on each page, if I tell her "____, isn't here today" she will ask me that 5-6 more times that day.

[missnikki]

Oh, that seems a bit excessive. How is she otherwise, developmentally?

[jen]

I've never had a child (will be 3y in April) that did this before to this extent anyways..

Is this just a phase or are there some tips to what I can say to her to lesson this?

A few examples (I could go on and on but I won't)

In my bathroom at christmas I had a reindeer that hung on the door knob. I took it off middle of december because it was distracting them from washing hands. EVERYTIME we are in the bathroom (3-4 times a day) she asks where the reindeer is. I tell her I put it in the basement until next christmas. She still asks me and it's March. I finally told her we aren't going to talk about the reindeer anymore. (I felt mean but I didn't know what else to say)

At meal times if she tells me she's done (I have them do that so I can clean them up before they leave the table) and I say Okay, I'll be right there. She will continue saying "Miss ____, I'm done!" every 10 seconds or so until I'll there. (Even if I repeat my self). Or if I tell everyone that the food is all gone when they ask for more (After they have had 2nd's) she will continue to ask for more.

She also repeats alot (WHen I'm reading books out loud she will repeat things I say on each page, if I tell her "____, isn't here today" she will ask me that 5-6 more times that day.

Is she looking for attention? All these questions create a scenario for you to engage her. The "I'm done" thing, I have seen ALOT. Usually in kids who don't have siblings yet, they haven't quite grasped why they have to wait, so they just repeat.

[SandeeAR]

My 2.5 y/o says "huh?'" after just about anything I say. It has become a habit and I just ignore her. If I have ask a question, once I ignore her, she usually answers me. She heard me the first time, it has just become a habit and others are playing into it. I choose to ignore it. Surprise, Surprise, the "huh?" has lessened at my house.

[jen]

My 2.5 y/o says "huh?'" after just about anything I say. It has become a habit and I just ignore her. If I have ask a question, once I ignore her, she usually answers me. She heard me the first time, it has just become a habit and others are playing into it. I choose to ignore it. Surprise, Surprise, the "huh?" has lessened at my house.

LOL! My dd does that too. Same thing, no response to "what?" in her case and she answers my orginal question.

[youretooloud]

At home, this may work for her. Perhaps her parents will go find more food if she keeps asking. It's like the child who throws a fit at your house, even if it doesn't work at your house, it might work at home.

She may also have some processing disorder, where she really doesn't understand the concept of "all gone", or "all done". So, she keeps asking.

[missnikki]

Does no one else see the reindeer comment? That one vexed me the most. The other stuff sounds annoying and you all might be right about it, but 4 months about a reindeer?

[marniewon]

My almost 3 year old grand daughter does the same thing and has since she could talk. She does the "huh" and "what" even though she heard me. She also repeats everything a million times.

Me: blow on the fries, they might be hot
H: they hot? are they hot? are the fries hot? mom. mom. (she calls almost all females "mom") are they hot, are the fries hot? mom? (and it goes on and on, but you get the idea)
Me: yes, H, they are hot.
lather, rinse, repeat

H: Poppa, play playdough with me?
DH: Yep, I'll play playdough (as he's sitting down playing playdough)
H: Poppa, play playdough? Gonna play playdough with me? Poppa? Play playdough with me?
on and on and on

She is a smart girl and right where she should be developmentally and physically. She just likes to talk.

We do a lot of ignoring, after answering the question the first time. I've had others in my care who do this also. I think it's the age and completely normal for some kids.

[jen]

Does no one else see the reindeer comment? That one vexed me the most. The other stuff sounds annoying and you all might be right about it, but 4 months about a reindeer?

I did notice the reindeer comment. I don't think the dck is actually focusing on the the reindeer itself, she knows where it went, but wants to create a conversation to engage the OP...since it has been working, she keeps on doing it. It wouldn't really alarm me, mostly because it appears she quit doing it once she was told that they weren't going to talk about the reindeer anymore.

[morgan24]

I had one like that. Started him when he was 2 and he moved on last year. That was the longest 2 years with a kid. I think he did it because he was babied so bad by his parent. If his Mom was talking to me and he interrupted she let him talk, then she finished what she had to say. I think he kept repeating things over and over because I listened the first time and after that I didn't respond, because it got old. An example is me asking what color play-doh he would like, if he said yellow and I gave it to him, that's all he said then was I have yellow play-doh, look I have yellow play-doh. The other kids got tired of it to and started to ignore him. He did the same thing yours does at lunch keeps asking for more after being told it's gone. There wasn't anything wrong with him except he wasn't the center of attention all the time here. I would ignore it.

[treehugger82]

Does no one else see the reindeer comment? That one vexed me the most. The other stuff sounds annoying and you all might be right about it, but 4 months about a reindeer?

::I know exactly! Just reading this thread.....my niece does this too, and I started to realize it is a way to get individual attention in a house full of kids with one adult (she is an only child at home)....so I just ignore what she said, and keep going about whatever we are doing. IF she asks why I am ignoring her question, I say, because I already told you. She has stopped a lot of that for the most part, but it is encouraged (unknowingly, I think) at home, so it does happen sometimes.::

[missnikki]

Fair enough. It's been a little while since I've worked with that age... which is why I rarely comment in those threads....

I'm here for the older kids ?'s, you all are better at the youngers...::

[sahm2three]

I have a few that do the same thing! I have a 2 year old that will repeat things over and over and over and over again, even after I have answered him. It's like he doesn't hear me when I tell him because he is too busy talking! Then I have a 6 year old who just tells me the same story all the time. Both instances drive me bonkers! If I have answered the 2 year old and he keeps repeating, I just ignore him and he stops. Or one of the other kids tells him to stop! LOL! The 6 year old, I half listen and do the uh huh thing. What else can you do?! I have tried telling him that he has told me that story a few times, but he must just really really like them! LOL! Good luck!

[daycare]

a lot of my kids repeat things over and over all the time. I think that it is more of an attention thing. They just want to be heard. When the kids do things like this I do one of two things. ignor them, if they are doing it for attention....EX: constantly saying Im done, Im done, Im done.. I will ignor this type of behavior..

The other situation that you were talking about, I would be impressed that they can rememer something from so long ago and I would encourage to further the conversation about it. Talk about what she would do if she had a reindeer, what would you name it, where would it live, and so on.

Sometimes parents don't give their child the time to express their feelings and thoughts at home, becuase home life gets too busy. Tv, computer, work, other siblings are there to distract them from taking a few moments a day to sit and talk with their little ones...

[QualiTcare]

- that's annoying.

maybe like someone else mentioned - she doesn't understand what "gone" means. the concept of object permanence should be developed by 3 years old, but who knows.

that still wouldn't explain why she repeats "i'm done" over and over.

bless your heart. ::