My 5 year old son swears like a truck-driver!!!?

Question

How do I get my newly turned 5 year old to stop his cussing? I do not swear around him but my husband does sometimes... I have taken toys away, put him in time out, tried everything under the sun to get him to stop but nothing is working.... I'm afraid that he's going to start Kindergarten in the fall and call his teacher a B**ch or one of his classmates an A**hole - What do you do? Have you had this problem or got a solution that will work?

Answer 1

Well i used to babysit a 4 year old a while ago until he moved out of state. He sore every single moment of the day. His mom didn't swear but his dad did.

He swore for no reason at all just cause he thought it was funny and he would get more attention. I tried everything while i was watching him to try to get him to stop, nothing worked.

But one day i thought of a couple ways to get him to stop or well try at the time. Everytime he would swear i would kneel down on the floor in front of him and start ballin my eyes out crying and everything. (pretending of course) just put your hands over your eyes and start crying. Once i did this a few times and while i did this i told him that he called me a very bad word and it was very mean of him. But for some reason afterwards he would start saying sorry and hugging me coming up to me and saying he loved me and he would never do it again.

Of course if this doesn't work you could always just give him the silent treatment that way he knows that he cant no longer get your attention by swearing.

Tips

Be firm and stand your ground.

Show by example what words are tolerated in your household.

React negatively (in disgust, e.g.) to foul language. For example say "That's a filthy word" and suggest alternate means of expression.

Try to stay away from corporal punishment.

Convince your child that cursing is unnecessary and teach him or her some other words to use or things to do (non-violent) when they are angry.

Hope this helped. Good luck =]

Answer 2

I am astounded by the number of people telling you to put soap in his mouth! In other words they think you should abuse him and put a toxic substance in his mouth for a behavior he learned from his parents! AMAZING! Time to re-learn how to express yourselves without using foul language. Make up a daily chart with rewards he can earn for remembering not to curse, doesn't have to be a big reward, maybe if he makes it for the day he gets to pick what he wants you to make him for dinner or he gets a extra story at bedtime or a half hour extra playtime outside after dinner. If he can make it for the week then he could get a BIG reward, going to see a movie, or to play miniature golf or bowling. It will be harder for the adults to stop cursing after all these years, I think you should have a curse jar and every time he hears you guys curse you have to put a quarter in it, this way he will be helping you guys to change a bad habit as well. Once the cursing is under control in the house allow him to take the money and put it toward a fun board game or activity the whole family would enjoy. Good luck!

L

Answer 3

I know kinda what your going threw, when my sister was 5 she had a potty mouth too! ( My other sister and I are much older than her 10 &13 years older) so we already had potty mouths, just tried to control it around her. Anyways one day when she was at my house, she went "over the edge" with me, yelling screaming, she hit my 6 mo. old daughter (at the time), told me she hated me, you name it! She even called me a b****!! So I took her into the bathroom and gave her a bar of soap and told her to take a bite! Needless to say she didn't bite the soap but she has never cursed at me again! Its worth a try.

Answer 4

this is kind of stupid - but have you yelled at his father for cussing in front of him?

He's probably swearing because daddy does it.

EDIT: Yelling at his father should work.

If your husband still swears after you punish your son, your son's probably going, "What's so wrong with it? Daddy does it all the time!" He needs to stop because he's showing your son it's okay.

Answer 5

1st i would talk to my husband (or whoever it is doing it) and tell him that he needs to stop cussing around him. Then instead of yelling at your son for it (since he doesnt think hes doing anything wrong bc he hears others doing it too) say nice words and when the person starts cussing in front of your son (you might feel like an idiot when you do this) but punish them, tell him no no and make them feel like a kid if they cant respect you and your son not to cuss in front of him.

Answer 6

he absolutly will swear at school, and they will send him home!  My son is 6, and i would be very offended if a child were to curse at him.  I think that you need to tell his father that if he doesnt stop that he can deal with the school next year.  Why have you waited until 5 years old to deal with this problem?  

My son swore when he was 2, and i told him not to say that word because it would make god sad.  I was very suprised that it worked, but it did.. so, good luck

Answer 7

start paying him an allowance for every day/week that he goes without swearing, then when he does swear he has to give you back a portion/amount of the money that you gave him and put it into the swearing jar. once he gets to a certain amount of days/weeks/months/etc. without swearing you can take shopping with the money he has earned and he can buy a nice toy that he wants.

Answer 8

My daughter who is three picked up on a couple of choice words from her father as well, and I tried everything that everyone has suggested so far.  I tried putting soap, and then vinegar in her mouth, timeouts, explaining that they are bad words, I even put her father in timeout to show her that even Daddy can't say those words.  Then I found a parenting book called 1-2-3 Magic by Dr. Thomas Phelan, and I stopped the swearing, and a couple of other negative behaviors, and even started a few positive ones as well.  When I first read the book I thought this is to simple to work, but if you stick with it in about 7-10 days he should start listening to you, and stop swearing.  And the beat part of the book is that their is no yelling or screaming, no threatening to spank, and you don't feel bad after you discipline.

Answer 9

You have to find something that is an actual PUNISHMENT to him.

If he doesn't play with his toys, he's not going to care that you took them away.

If he doesn't mind sitting there, he's not going to considering time out a punishment. (I'd actually enjoy the solitude.)

You're not going to win anytime soon because I imagine he's been swearing for longer than 1 month and you're trying to solve it in just 1 month.

A friend's son got kicked out of preschool for that and your son will get suspended too, unless you find out what he considers a punishment. Whatever he loves the most, take THAT away.

Answer 10

WOW!

Answer 11

make him hold a bar of soap in his mouth for 5 minutes every time he does it

wokrked on me when i was younger

Answer 12

You need to talk with your husband and ask him to refrain from cussing around your son.  Have your husband talk to your son one on one and tell him that cussing is wrong and that Daddy is not going to cuss anymore.  So maybe they could work on it together.  Make it a game.  But of course your husband has to be willing to change his language.

It could also be from the T.V. or from other kids.

Answer 13

Children learn from their parents. His father is teaching him.

-Stuart

Answer 14

First you must stop his father! Then make it the responsibility of the father who created the problem to be the one to "Explain" it to the child. THEN be firm. Never laugh and never let it go!

Answer 15

CPS views soap in the mouth as abuse...so if your 5 year old goes to school and tells an adult there that he has to have soap in his mouth the school is bound by LAW to report it to CPS.  So go ahead and use the soap in the mouth...once CPS removes your son from your home you won't have to worry about him swearing.

Answer 16

r u kidding me, soap wit bad words spices wit bad words and boiled egg when he lies come on

Answer 17

he didn't come up with these words out of the blue... he hears them regularly around the house...

Unfortunately a toddler is a lot like a Parrot....

you've got your hands full....and tell your husband that he's responsible for this...

Answer 18

the old soap in the mouth routine, kids hate it!

Answer 19

one of the things i do with my son is ignore it.  cuz if you punish him he knows he is doing something wrong.  I know that sounds odd cuz other times when they do bad they get punished but most of the time they are do the crime again. but if you pay no attention to it he may stop or decrease it.  Also he has to be getting it somewhere.  my husband and i swear sometimes too but my son hasn't picked it up.  he is getting it from somewear.  is he watching unacceptable TV-movies (TV-Movies with unrealized profanity to you or your husband) with you and your husband.  just something to think about.  cuz i catch myself watching stuff that i don't want my kids to see.-- good Luck

Answer 20

You have to be firm with him and follow through with any punishment. He is old enough to understand that swearing is not acceptable for a little boy, especially at school. You have to sit down with him and explain the reasons why it is unacceptable. He is likely to be suspended from school if he does this.

Answer 21

I have 5 kids,  I try hard not to say bad words around them ,but some times they slip out. My husband is only home 6 ms out of the year so I have to do allot of the discipline my self and its all about consistency . whey they are bad you can't give in and where ever you are you have to punish them . Every kid is different some the corner some time out some lose things out of there room but what ever you say you have to do and stick to it. some times a chart will help but every kids is different if you are a push over now it will only get worse . 5 years is way to old to be doing that. my little girl is going to be 5 soon and she knows I don't play she would not say bad words cause she knows she will be punished. watch super nanny or nanny 911 and learn from her what to do really it works but you have to do it and keep it up and be firm. start now and don't give up. there is no way I would let my kids get away with  it and have your husband back you up on it . they are going to here bad words it a matter of teaching them what is good and bad and making them be good. when they do good let them know they are doing good when they are bad make sure they know it as well . and talk to them sit them down and explain things to them in a way they will understand you. They are smarter then you think. they know how to get away with things its a matter of out smarting them cause they will out smart you if you let them LOL. its not easy and no one is perfect its a learn as you go process.

                  good luck.

Answer 22

how about soap in the mouth??? I never had that problem. Have you explained it to him that those are bad words??

Answer 23

I would say that you first need to get to where the problem started, your husband and the other things he is surrounded by.  Is he listening to bad music and watching bad tv?  you and your hubby need to have a nice sit down and let him know that he is hurting his son's development.

Have you tried the soap in the mouth trick?  My mom did that to me and my sister's a few times, and we never said those bad words or phrases again!  If you have never heard of it, just take a small dab of hand soap or puttin on his tongue and odn't let him spit it out.  or make him bite or l**k a bar of soap.  You can let him know that the things he is saying are dirty and his mouth needs to be washed out.  lol good luck!

Answer 24

Have him repeat his sentence without swearing.  Make it a non-issue.

Start docking your DH $50 every time he swears.