My 6yo talks TOO much

[Turkish Delight]

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.

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?

[hj1981]

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!

[Indadhanu]

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.

[Turkish Delight]

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

[hj1981]

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!

[Rouge]

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

[Turkish Delight]

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!

[Beatrix]

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?

[kawazuki]

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.

[Artechim]

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

[AnyDream]

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.

[angelaartsstudent]

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

[jackrose]

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 !

[~clover~]

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!

[Rouge]

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

[smiles4u]

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

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 ...

[paradise lost]

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

[Meegs]

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!!