My 6yo talks TOO much

Hi there ladies,

My 6yo boy talks TOO much. He never shuts up, never (only when sleeping). I don't want to yell at him (which i end up doing) but i can't watch tv, talk to somebody else or even think in peace.:doh:

Is it normal?

I've told him several times that he needs to wait until i finish talking with somebody else or not to interrupt me several times whilst i'm watching telly. I sometimes ignore him, but he keeps repeating it over and over until i answer back. I sometimes even nod when he talk just so he gets some kind of response out of me.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

He talks about anything and everything, especially his WWE (wrestling) stars.

What am i to do?

hahaha sorry i cant help u but i just had to laugh!
and to think that one day i might have to go thru that! :rolleyes:

LOL I don't have a 6yo but have worked in pre-school and early childhood (my area of study at uni) and it is normal. I knew a young boy who went ON and ON about his NRL team, he could name the players and positions and all their wins for the year. I bet he could have given a play by play commentary had I asked!!!!!!!

Not sure theres much TO do... nod and smile and wait til school goes back I suppose. Maybe introduce 'quiet time' lol quiet reading or drawing or something so you can have a coffee in silence.

you want them to talk as bubs, but once they do they never shut up. Catch 22

hahaha it sure is - maybe i should enjoy Bianca not talking now for aslong as i can!
i might cut back on the mum mum mum mum, dad dad dad dad and bub bub bub bub bit! :lol:

Hate to say it but its normal :) Embrace it, there will come a time where he probably won't want to talk about much at all ;)

Oh no. Not much to do. I will then have to get his vocal cords surgically removed! Or i guess invest in some ear muffs. But for the sake of mankind, option 1 is best!

Hun

My 4 1/2 year old girl is exactly the same.. some times i wish i were deaf. I have no idea how to deal with it.. and yes mine normally end with yelling, which doesnt work anyway cause she just starts againless the 5 seconds later.

I have been living with my parents for s hsort period of time atm and they can not believe i havent gone completly crazy with her.. considering im on my own normally 24/7 with her being a single mum and everything she only has me to direct her talk to.

Even her 2 year old sisters tells her to shut up... does that tell you how bad she is?

we spend teh first 2 years of their life teaching them to walk and talk adn teh next 18 telling them to sit down and shut up.
my 8YO is exactly teh same.
so i tell him time and place boy for chit chat. if we are watching a show talk during adds only. if im on teh computer, and dont reply its becaus eim concentrating adn will reply when fre. if i am talking to someone i just raise my finger to mouth then when finished i said now what was it you wanted to tell me,. i am free and can give you my full attention.

and we also made quiet time where there is nothing on in the house no tv no computer we all sit down draw read but nothing is said except praise.

I used to be like that, mum used to joke there wasn't a camera invented with a fast enough shutter speed to catch me with my mouth closed lol

I like to think it is a sign of intelligence lmao

My DD1 who is now 10 suffers the same affliction. I think I possibly tuned her out a little too much when she was younger as she now talks without checking first that anyone is listening (not good socially). So we really work on making eye contact and stressing taking turns and listening as well as verbal-outpour.

So my advice is -
* Set up some quiet zones (ie when the tv news is on, or when I'm sitting in this particular armchair means I just need some quiet time)
* Teach your son about pauses in conversation, getting someone's attention, making eye contact and then talking when you're sure they're listening. Practise this at the dinner table and at other times when you're doing things that you don't mind listening to chat at the same time.
* Teach about talking about one topic at a time then it's the next person's turn to talk (kids this age just go from topic to topic to topic and it's hard to tell if they've finished saying the first thing LOL).
* realise that your son probably has an auditory way of processing information. Basically you're getting word for word what's happening in his head. Give him other auditory things to play with (in his bedroom hehe) - musical instruments, audio books, a tape recorder so he can record things then play them back, his own radio/stereo/mp3 player, games with noise-components to them. These will all grab him like nothing else in the house does and at least you'll have some quiet when he's off playing with them.

Tell him that you think it would be really fun if he wrote you a letter instead of talking so at the end of the day you can read his lovely letter...and write one back to him.

May be a bit of fun for the end of the school holidays...maybe he can draw or write about looking forward to school or etc, making friends, favourite things to do etc etc

Oh dear, I had to laugh. Some kids are just awful chatterboxes, aren't they? And they sometimes aren't great at picking up body language. I've always said that you wait that whole first year for them to say "mum" and then regret it for the rest of your life ;)

I've been known to say to my chatterbox, "Darling, I love you, but from now until five minute's time, I'd like you to just stop talking for a bit, okay?" If they are stream of consciousness kids (I've got a couple of those) encouraging getting their thoughts out in a diary is really good.

There's a book called "The five love languages of children" that talks about how different children interpret love being demonstrated for them. For some, it's about physical contact (my Limpet Child is like that), for others it's being praised a lot, for others it's about being noticed and interacted with a lot. Sometimes understanding that can help deal with the frustration, particularly when your "love language" is different!

:

---

Tell him that you think it would be really fun if he wrote you a letter instead of talking so at the end of the day you can read his lovely letter...and write one back to him.

---

What a lovely idea!

:

---

Hi there ladies,

My 6yo boy talks TOO much. He never shuts up, never (only when sleeping). I don't want to yell at him (which i end up doing) but i can't watch tv, talk to somebody else or even think in peace.:doh:

Is it normal?

---

Ahhh yeah i sympathize my 7 year old almost 8 year old does exactly the same thing and i feel guilty that sometimes i just want him to shhhh for maybe 30 mins but yeah ild say some kids they are more talkative than others he was quite placid and quiet baby too.

I do the sign actions when i'm talking to somebody, so he can wait his turn. He just rolls his eyes at me, waits and then once i'm finished he goes on and on and on and doesn't know when to stop.
These past few weeks all he talks about is body slams, choke slams, signature moves, Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Batista.... enough i tell him. If he really had a decent conversation with me, no probs. I can't wait til school starts.
Quiet times are a great idea and i will definitely get him to write letters to me about anything he wants and i will reply. Thanks for the ideas and comments.
I am a very talkative person, but he out does me hands down.
So true about the "telling them to sit down and/or shut up for the next 18 years" LOL.

sounds pretty normal to me, i have a 10yr old nephew and he never shuts up either.

:

---

you want them to talk as bubs, but once they do they never shut up. Catch 22

---

ha ha ha!
My DH keeps saying I can't wait for our DD aged 1 to talk and I keep warning him to be careful what he wishes for!!!

You have already received some great advice here but I couldn't help thinking of something that came to my attention last week which may or may not be related to this, perhaps over chatting is a side effect of food additive intolerance???

It could be a long shot but I just watched a DVD of 'fed up' which is all about the effects of food additives in children who are intolerant to them and it was eye opening to say the least - much more than red food colouring makes kids hyper. If you get increasingly desperate, it may be worth a look ;) !

TurkishDelight, hunni, at least yours stops when he's asleep!
Mine just keeps going!!!
My 6 year old talks in her sleep & talks so much I'm surprised she hasn't lost her voice!
Its probably more noticeable since its holidays too, lol!

Why not try finding a conversation you can both engage yourselves in? My DD talks alot too, but we always try and have "chatters" (as she calls it) about things that both interest us, so we take turns in a topic. I think its a very important step in learning how to communicate. I have never told her to stop talking, or anything like that as I don't want her to go the opposite way which I have seen from kids whose parents ignore them or show disinterest.

Why not sit him in front of a keyboard and get him to type a "story" about everything he knows about WWE. You could even help him print it and bind it? He could even spend some time doing illustrations. Obsessions pass quickly when you show interest ;)

Oh my ... my 2.5year old DD never stops talking ... even if i try to escape to the loo for a moments peace she is outside the toilet door chatting ;)

I think some people do think it is funny but to have no peaceful moments to yourself apart from when she goes to bed i feel i'm going a bit nuts by the end of the day :rolleyes:

So sorry no words of advice but to say i understand some of what you feel ... geez, what will my DD be like by the time she turns 6years old, augh ... :pray:

My DD is very chatty, as is her mum!

I was this child. Seriously i could and can talk for Britain. About anything and everything - you pick the topic or i will, either is fine. I was told to shut up, called motormouth, asked "do you NEVER stop talking?" for almost all of my childhood. It didn't help me to temper my chattiness but it did make me hate myself for many many years.

As an adult i am respected for my communication skills, i could always listen as well as talk but this was never noticed or recognised, probably because people were so desperately trying to ignore me. Friends squeeze my arm and say "it's so easy when you're here, there's always something to talk about!" - my chattiness is a social lubricant for others, disarms the aggressive, comforts the shy and provides background noise to those who feel silences difficult to break. As i child i was ignored, berated and made to feel like a tiresome energy drain because i talked so much. The "affectionate" family nicknames were insidious bullying to me, which knocked my confidence so badly that i once didn't speak for eleven days as a teenager. My mother threatened to take me to the mental hospital and i started talking again. The saddest thing is that as much as i talked i never had anyone who really listened to me, and i had a LOT going on that i needed help with, and i never told anyone about any of it because i was told to shut up LONG before i got comfortable enough to even approach it.

Some of us process internally and others do it out loud. Have you ever seen the eyes of a blind person moving all the time, searching and searching for light to see by? That was where my talking came from too, i talked and talked and talked, seeking a connection with someone else that i could never find. The thirst to understand and be understood, to reach out to another living person and interact, was desperate in me, and it was never slaked. I am still talking!

Bx

I know why he talks too much. We had an IQ test done and his language side is very predominant.
Hoobley- your childhood is so much like my son's. What you described about your "affectionate" family, sounds like us at times towards my son. He too can talk about anything and everything, has an opinion for all matters whether it concerns him or not. I wish i could just reach inside this screen and give you a great big hug.

Niliac - the project idea is fantastic. I will get him to do research on the net about his favourite WWE stars and we can make a booklet, print pictures. Excellent idea.

Thanks ladies!

Excellent suggestions Marydean and Niliac.
I don't have a 6yr old but I work in early childhood and there are certainly some chatter boxes at work! While obviously it is normal for people to be more talkative then others your DS also needs to learn how to communicate in a way which is socially appropriate and to be conciderate of others IMO. Here are a couple more suggestions.
*Try a kitchen timer - "mummy would love to hear about that when the timer goes off and I have finished doing ... You can draw a picture about it or just wait quietly until i'm finished?" Set the timer for 3mins then increase to 5 when he gets the idea. Make sure you reward him with lots of positive reinforcement when he does listen and/or wait patiently.
*A talking stick/rock to use in social situations like at dinner time or when he keeps interupting you in conversation. Don't make him wait to long but just to get him used to the idea of turn taking. Only the person holding the stick can talk and he can help you decorate it.
He obviously has great language skills which is great. Have fun making the book together.

Oh.. thank goodness.. I thought that I was the only one that had to put up with the endless chatter about WWE!! My 7 year old does not stop talking about wrestling from 6am - 8pm!! You dont live close by by any chance?? Maybe we can lock them in a room together all day to swap notes!!:lol:

Meegs LOL.
He tries to do 619s on the couch and practices moves on his sister (which i yell at him for). He wants to go to the WWE when they come to australia in July. He listens to their theme music on the MP3 player.
We could lock them up together and they both won't stop talking then! Gives us a break from listening to their "crap"!