Parents of 3 year olds...How do you deal with the endless questions?!?

Question

I occasionally wanna rip my hair out!!! I love my son but everything is WHY, WHY, WHY?!

Answer 1

Ah....the lovely social dance known as 'communicative engagement.'

Since 3-year-olds are at the stage where language development has blossomed, they feel the desire to simply engage in an exchange with parents/caregiver, other adults, etc.

Most 3-year-olds do have decent comprehension, but from my experience, many do not seek the actual cause-and-effect answers that we assume they are asking.

Most want to simply 'connect' with you, obtain attention, and feel 'enthralled.'

When my soon-to-be three-year-old niece asks why, I tend to 'tell her a story' as opposed to actually give her the real answer, since some of the real responses are too 'scientific' or complicated for a child to really understand.

The phase will last a while--definitely until kindergarten, but once the child gets older, you can turn it around and ask them the same question they just asked you....it's fun to see what their responses are. :)

Answer 2

i have the same problem i have a 4, 3 and 8 1/2 year old and my 3 and 4 year old does the why question aswell i try to explain the answer the best that i can and if i cant i just tell them to go play with there toys untill i can think of an answer and eventually they forget what they were asking. You should try that with your kid and see if it works.

Answer 3

I know this lady with a 3 year old. He was non-stop about the questions. She said that very annoyed at first. But then she  learned that you can just sort of not answer every question they ask. Or you can talk him into a different subject that there are not very many questions to ask about that.

Answer 4

Oh, I am SO glad you posted this...I thought it was only me. Sometimes I thwart my 3 y/o when she asks me why by turning the question around and asker her why she thinks it is what it is (or whatever). She doesn't like that as much and usually goes to play with her brother.

Answer 5

tell them BECAUSE ASK ME THAT AGAIN YOU WILL GO TO TIME OUT

Answer 6

I just usually answer what I can and change the subject when I can't. If he asks the same question over and over again, I ask him instead.  I have learned that my son just really wants my attention, so if it is getting really bad I stop what I am doing and spend some time with him. If I can't do that then I pull out a special independent toy or game. that usually creates a distraction for him and he forgets what he was asking. And then when I can I spend some alone time with him.

Answer 7

yes and it's only when I am in a train of thought or stressed about something or when I change up the daily routine, my 4yr old son drives me bonkers with his endless question, I have to tell him Ashton why don't we play the quiet game until you get to school! works most days others not! I love him tho!

Answer 8

Make up a super long silly answer, usuallythey get caught up in hearing youor i the answer is silly enoughthey start imagining long enough to give you a break.

JAT good luck!

Answer 9

I understand what are you feeling. What I usually do is after he asked me the same  question 3 or 4 times I let him now That he already knows the answer to that question bc I already told him, so I make him think about it. Sometimes  he answer the question to himself right away, sometimes he can't remember and sometimes he doesn't feel like thinking and he just go and do something different.

So that usually works for me !

Answer 10

Lol yeah i know the feeling... Its not easy to put up with, sometimes when my son keeps asking me questons over and over again i reverse the questions and ask him for the answers... especially when its the same question over and over again it gets irritating lol   It works for me sometimes. Good luck.