Is something wrong with my son?

Question

I have a very sweet and fun loving 5 year old, when ever we go out people tell me how well behaved he is. And at home he is well behaved and listens. The problem is in the morning and sometimes at night he wines. Examples of this was just this morning I asked him to put his shoes on and as he was putting them on he started to cry and say that his SOCKS hurt and using this high pitched voice and began to complain. Stuff Ike this happens every morning. It's not just that, like he cant brush his teeth because his toothpaste wont come out. Then when we get in the car to go to school he's fine. There is not whining, no complaints he is ready to go. I've tried giving hem candy for not complaining, punishing him with early bed times. And he is in bed between 8 and 8:30 so he can't be that tiered. His dad and i are worried that he might have some emotional problems. Please tell me if you have experienced this or you have a suggestion.

Answer 1

I think your lucky if thats the only whinning he's doing, most kids try and act out by whinning about everything and if he's not then he doesn't have much to act out about... He's just testing his boundaries but in a nice respectable way.  As long as its not in public or at school, or comes out in violent spurts than he's handeling himself very well...

Answer 2

It's definatly just a stage. It happens to the best of us! I don't remember what I'd did for that, my daughter is much older now. Sorry!

Good luck, mom!

Answer 3

This is normal! =D

Answer 4

Uh. You should go and check that out with a doctor or something....it doesn't sound very........healthy.

Answer 5

This is sooooooo normal!!   I have an adorable six-year-old girl, who sounds like the female version of your son....well-behaved, sweet kid, always listens.  But when she gets dressed in the morning, I have to listen to "My pants are not comfy!  They itch me!  My underwear is not comfy!  I don't want pigtails!"   Whine, whine, whine!

What I did a couple of months ago was to put a calendar on the refrigerator called "Sophia's Cheerful Morning Chart."   Every morning that she gets up happily, eats her breakfast, and gets dressed without complaint, she gets to put a sticker on the calendar.  Once she has 20 stickers, she gets a special treat.  She's currently working for some new art paper to draw and paint on, so we're not talking about anything huge.  This system has worked like a charm, and I've hardly heard any whining for the last month!

Answer 6

depending on what time he has to get up, 8:30 may be to late.  5 year olds need about 11 hours of sleep, so if he is waking up before 7:30 am he needs to be going to bed before 8:30 pm

and whining is definitely a sign of being tired.

Answer 7

you allow your son to have these behaviors.  i have taken away my daughter's privilege to talk on some mornings by ignoring what she says.  look into your behaviors first to discern if there is something you are doing to cause his negative behaviors.  start fresh each morning with smiles, quiet talk, and respect.  learn to listen to the kid and hug him more often.  be sure to provide him the tools to make the morning prep flow smoothly.

Answer 8

well i think that your son is acting normal for a five year old. i have a lot of experience with children and thats very normal just give him some time and treat him as well as you can and try to help him over come some of these problems maybe try making some of the things he has problems with into games for him.

Answer 9

"son i only listen to big boy voices"  maybe his socks really do hurt him, and that issue needs to be addressed.  but address it only after he uses his big boy voice.  if he needs some mentoring on how to get the toothpaste out, give it to him, BUT only after he uses his big boy voice.  some other lines.....

"i just can't understand what your saying...can you use your big boy voice please?"

"i think you need help, but i cant understand what your saying"

"i only listen/understand/pay attention to big boy voices"

make a game out of it

Answer 10

Welcome to the preschool years.  Just remember its a stage and this too shall pass.  My daughter went through a stage where she whined about every item of clothing she had to put on.  It has finally passed, but it took lots of patience on our part.

Answer 11

sounds to me like he wants you to help him. if you were putting his shoes on for him up until recently and squeezing out the toothpaste, he might be feeling a bit alone, like he has to do all this stuff on his own now (which he has to). i would keep praising him for doing those things and negotiate with him in the morning. tell him all the things that need to be done before school and give him some ownership over those chores eg say "this morning we have to get dressed, put your shoes and socks on, brush your teeth, brush your hair. what do you think you could do this morning? you choose two things and i'll do the others." he might just need you to notice that he's a big boy now and is doing all of these things on his own. give him lots of verbal praise for that.

Answer 12

Hi Jackie,

Sounds like your son is just a normal kid trying to postpone the things he doesn't like doing. ;)  My 4-year old kept whining in the morning that he couldn't get dressed on his own when we were getting ready to take him to school. Sounds familiar?

I think the best strategy with whining is to try to ignore it as much as possible. It IS hard, because whining can get sooo annoying! Just try and see it that way: whenever he gets attention, he wins.

It usually takes a while to "work" when you start with the ignoring strategy, but if you stick with it I bet you'll see results.

Good luck!