Do you correct your toddler when they say bad words?

Question

My 2 1/2 year old son picked up a nasty word from my husband, and thinks it is hilarious to say it! I'm not sure at this age if it is better to correct him, or just ignore it as if he didn't say it at all. What do you think?

Answer 1

They all go through this one. My oldest sons favorite was G...d**n it and all I did was replace the word with dog gone it and he said that instead of the other. Never ever laugh because that just encourages it more.  

Answer 2

At this stage he's just repeating what he hears, to really eliminate the language start w/ your husband. Tell him to curve his tongue and your son won't use the language.  

Answer 3

My parents made a list of made up words that sounded bad to me and used that to stop me from writing bad words. It worked.

Answer 4

When my son was that age he picked up a naughty word and I ignored it.  I think if you make a big deal about the word it only draws his attention to it.  The naughty word went away pretty quickly.  He is now 4 and if he says a naughty word now I will tell him not to say it anymore.

Answer 5

correct them of course! my brother got a habit of swearing from our dad and now he always swears. its inappropriate so u need to stop it.

Answer 6

I'm reading this for the advice too. My son is on the verge of talking and my husband uses bad language all the time. I counted the other day and he used the S--T word in a sentence about 5 times. I know that before long my son will be using that word. My husband thinks that it's okay for him to speak like this until the baby actually BEGINS to speak... My reasoning is that the baby is already beginning... just by listening to us.

Answer 7

We just went through this with our 3 and a half year old son.....he would say d**n this and that,,and used it the correct way too,,,at first,I would go in the other room and giggle because it sounds funny coming out of his mouth,,,but,we did correct him.

We just told him that was not a nice word to use,and that it is an adult word,that only grown ups say,,,he has't said it since!

Good luck!

Answer 8

My 16 month old said d**n not long ago. We just told him "no that word is not nice." and then ignored it. He hasn't used it since.

Answer 9

Obviously you need to be very careful what you say around kids this age, as they are little parrots.  The best thing is to ignore it, and he likely won't say it again unless he hears it again.  Laughing at it will encourage him to repeat the word, because he enjoys the reaction and he will soon learn that saying that word is very rewarding.

Answer 10

We have gone through that with our son as well, he didn't get the naughty word from us but from my teenage sister. He started saying d**n it, all the time. We tried telling him that he was talking ugly but the attention he got from saying it only made him say it a lot more often, so we quit even reacting when he said it. Within a few weeks d**n it was totally out of his vocabulary. It can kinda be embarassing having to explain to people why your 2 year old is saying d**n it.  

Answer 11

if its an on going thing all day, i would scold him. if its once in awhile i would ignore it, they usually say those words for a reaction from you. if you have to scold him i would take away a toy everytime time he says it and start with the good toys. good luck i know its hard to scold 2 1/2 year olds. they are smarter than we think, but they are still young.  

Answer 12

I would tell him that is a word that we shouldn't say, then ignore him. He will say it to try to get a reaction, but should stop when he gets none.

Answer 13

hmmm good question!

maybe you could wait it out and maybe he'll stop?

if not you should correct it and say its not nice to say it

Answer 14

you should correct him now on this and anything else.   at age 5 or 6, little toddler quirks won't be so cute to you or the public.

Answer 15

I have to agree with Karla K.