potty mouths - driving me nuts

[Anonymous]

Ok so I have two boys - 5 & 3, and both just can't stop saying pee-pee and poo-poo whenever they get a chance. I've even given them timeouts for it but it was only good for about three days.

last saturday we're invited to a party at a friends house and when we left my friend's 4-yo little girl shocked us by saying 'goodbye pee-pee poo-poo' but her dad didn't hear that. now i'm all worried the girl learned that from my kids.

and today i picked up my younger one from the daycare and 'hi pee-poo' came out of a 5-yo girl so 'naturally' and carelessly in front of me, four other kids and their teacher.

what is going on? who started it and how did you make it stop?! please help!

thanks!

[Anonymous]

That age seems to love potty talk! We think ours picked it up at school, the little ones making each other crack up, but who really knows. IMHO, some parents tolerate it and some don't. In our house, we say "no potty talk". But then you have to decide how you want to deal with it. Part of picking your battles, I guess.

[Anonymous]

You are not alone. I have a 3yo and he just keeps on with it. I don't get it. I hope someone here has a suggestion...

[Anonymous]

In our house, people who want to take potty go sit in the bathroom until they are done.

For older kids, I teach them how to clean the potty. (Spray bottle with a little soap and some toilet paper to wipe it off).

[Anonymous]

Oops-

I meant, people who want to TALK potty go sit in the batheroom.

[Anonymous]

ask them to lick a bar soap every time they say it out of context.

they won't make the same mistake twice.

[Anonymous]

In our house, bathroom words belong in the bathroom. You are welcome to shout, sing or mutter them alone in the bathroom to your heart's content. But you may not use them elsewhere. It kinda takes the fun out of it when there's no audience...

[Anonymous]

We did a consequence-you-can't-miss approach. DS started the morning by putting about 25 M&Ms into a baggie, which I carried. Every time he said a potty word, I removed one candy and ate it. What was left at the end of the day was his. It worked really fast.

[Anonymous]

huahuauh I love the m&m's idea!

[Anonymous]

Love the M and Ms idea too! I wonder if that works for other behavior I also use the potty talk only in the bathroom. It isn't as much fun to them if they aren't getting a reaction.

[Anonymous]

It's normal, but I made it clear to my daughter that I don't tolerate it. We lump it in with other behaviors we characterize as "rude". She is five now, we have been working on this ocassionally for the past two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ask them to lick a bar soap every time they say it out of context.

they won't make the same mistake twice.

no, the above is not a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Love the M&M idea also and fully intend to use it when the opportunity presents itself. But, potty mouth isn't our issue - anymore. I also have two boys and they loved their potty words. What I told them was that potty words were the types of conversations that shouldn't happen around grown ups. They were free to talk about it amongst themselves and with their friends, but never around grown ups. Once they had permission, it lost its appeal. Though sometimes even still (my oldest is 10), I hear them go into long bouts of giggles over the subject of farting. I console myself about this by remembering how important it is to me that my kids are close and during such times it is clear that they really enjoy each other.

[Anonymous]

Never minded potty talk. Now that we are six we are very into farting. Volume, smell, all aspects are discussed. We have things we talk about in private, i.e. pee-pee, poop, and farting. And things we talk about in public, i.e. world peace, an end to childhood hunger, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never minded potty talk. Now that we are six we are very into farting. Volume, smell, all aspects are discussed. We have things we talk about in private, i.e. pee-pee, poop, and farting. And things we talk about in public, i.e. world peace, an end to childhood hunger, etc.

LOL! OK -- what comes after farting? DS is 7 and I have heard all I can possibly hear about farting. I need to know what is next. Please tell me it isn't boobies? Is there something in between? (Maybe by the time they get to boobs they have enough sense not to let mom hear?)