Does your 2.5 y/o say please/thank you umpromted?

Zenya

About 2 months ago, I started really pushing the please/thank you thing with my son.  He will be 3 in June.  Up until then, I just modeled it.

About half the time he's fine but the other half he won't say it.  I make him say it - he doesn't get what he wants without it.  And I make him say the whole sentence (he can't just bark 'please').  

I want the battle to end though!  I want him to just say it all the time.  No nagging required.

excitedtobemrs

Randomly, he does.  Thank you a LOT more often than please.  Please usually only comes after we say he can't have something.

august06mom

About half. I make him say it if he won't, but I also get sick of prompting. I have a feeling this could go on for a while though ... he's much better with "thank you." He says that on his own at least 75% of the time.

LinzDavid

Yes, he does the majority of the time.  We've been pushing it for long time. 

joseysbride

Mine is the same.  For some things she is really good, and other times not so much.

And I have also been insisting that she ask in a complete sentence with a please.  Not

her:  "I want a snack!"  me:  "What do you say?"  her:  "pleeeease!"

but

"Can I have a snack please?"

TwoChickens

Yeah...she did.  But it was TONS of learning by example.  It helped that she heard both me and her older brother say it.  It may take some nagging though.  I have to still remind her that she needs to say please and thank you.  I even have to remind C (who's almost 5) that he's supposed to say it.  He'll get it eventually though. 

lizlemon77

Yes, DD says it almost 100% of the time except when she's talking to me.  My DH has to remind her to use her please and thank you words when she's talking to mommy too!  She almost uses them too much because she has figured out the power that they hold.  We were at my doctors office the other day and the nurse gave her a sticker.  She looked at her said "Thank you!  Please I have another one please?"  Of course the nurse thought this was adorable and gave her three more. 

amiamish

we hear "thank you mommy/daddy" a lot (unprompted) but never "please" unless he's prompted. He'll be two in a few weeks.

citygirl22

he says thank you and no thank you almost always. please sometimes...i usually have to remind him. "can you ask nicely" is my prompt for the please. we just keep trying to model this and it will come in time i hope.

DandelionMom

I would say Gracie remembers on her own about 80% of the time. 

co18co

He says "thank you" and "you're welcome" appropriately about 99% of the time, but I often have to remind him to say please, although, he's coming leaps and bounds with it.  I'd say I have to ask him "what do you say?" about 50% of the time.

He'll always respond with "I say please."

 

I am impressed with how quickly he's picked it up, and how consistently he uses it.  

MrsStubbs

DD is really good with thank you around the house. With strangers it takes some prompting.  She has a harder time with please.

Littlejen22

DS is almost 28 mos and he says it sometimes.  I honestly think that if you want the battle to stop then you have to stop it - stop expecting an almost 3yo to say it all the time.  If he says it half the time you are in good shape - just keep making a big deal when he says it and you need to say it all the time when it is your turn to thank people and say please - he will follow but he's a kid and will never be 100%.

Makinroom4baby

J says Thank you all of the time, even when he's done with something and wants to give you the empty carton or wrapper. He does the sign for please when he wants something.

annak23

DD will say "thank you much" unprompted after I give her a sippy cup of milk or juice.  I usually have to nag her about saying please if she is whining that she wants something. 

stacynikki

Yes, all the time.  Daycare is really great about ingraining this.  He actually first started doing it without any prompting from us.  We do have to prompt him more so now though.

Zenya

Littlejen22:

DS is almost 28 mos and he says it sometimes.  I honestly think that if you want the battle to stop then you have to stop it - stop expecting an almost 3yo to say it all the time.  If he says it half the time you are in good shape - just keep making a big deal when he says it and you need to say it all the time when it is your turn to thank people and say please - he will follow but he's a kid and will never be 100%.

That's exactly what I'm wondering!  I don't know if my expectation if unrealistic.  It's interesting to me that most kids seem to have trouble with 'please'.  DS does, too.  And I model it ALL the time.  My whole parenting goal is to be respectful and kind.  I don't always get there but I really try.  So that's why I'm questioning this.

AnnapolisLari

"Cank you" more often than please, but he does use both. He will say, "Cookie, pweese" or something like that.

He's 2 years and 4 months.

Punk*Mommy

He says Thank You all the time

Usually when I ask him to do something he'll tell me "No thanks."

haha

Please isn't as frequent but he's pretty good about using it.
 

Andrewsgal

Yes she does, but this is something we put a lot of work into. When she could fist say please (12 months) we prompted and prompted. At two we stopped responding to requests unless she said please. She caught on really quickly and it soon became a habit. We are now working on whole sentances. She will say "more milk please" but we are working on "May I please have some more milk" but she gets what she asks for as long as she says please.

Thank you is the same way, at two if she did not say it we took away whatever she had or promted if it was something we did for her. The funny thing is she says Thank you more in a sentance than please. And she says thank you about everything. For example "Thank you for putting my hair up in such a pretty bow" was what she said today. I would be fine with a simple thank you but i am not complaining.

He will say it just give it time.

Andrewsgal

IMO they are NOT too young to expect please and thank you. I am a firm believer that kids will live up to your reasonable expectations. If you don't expect him to say it he won't. If you expect it he will.

Reagan's Mommy

We started on this very early.  R was signing "please" before she could say it.  It was mostly prompted.  Now, she will generally say it unprompted (about 90% of the time). It's generally, "milk please" "more please", etc.

We also worked on "thank you" starting a few months ago and now, again she says "thank you mommy/daddy" unprompted about 90% of the time.

Although, she does tend to say it more to me, than to DH.  We are working on this now.  I think he generally let's it slide, where I won't.

Brewster

Most commonly, he says thank you. He'll copy you if you say "your welcome".  I'd say more than 1/2 the time he says please when he makes a request. 

august0605bride

yes he does 95% of the time. ?we pretend like we didnt hear him ?the other 5%, and he repeats himself with the please. ?

jessicaclare

Actually yes (and DD is just over 2), about 75% of the time. Its something that has really surprised me, but we just kept up with both modeling the behavior and gently reminding her. Now she does it a lot of the time. I didn't really expect her to until she was a lot older. I also think that they really work on please and thank you at daycare, which helps.

eclaires

Yes.  If he doesn't say please, I pretend I didn't hear him at all, but it doesn't happen too often - I don't feel like I'm nagging him or spending any significant time on it.  I forget when we started that, but now, he rarely forgets to say please (and in a nice tone - not just yelling it at me).

As far as thank you, he says it all the time, unprompted and has for awhile.  He's basically obsessed with the phrase and it was one of his first words.  We've never really worked on it, except for when he receives gifts.  Then I remind him to say thank you, because at Christmas and his birthday party the person giving him the gift wasn't handing it to him, so he didn't say "thank you."  So then, we do prompt him.  Like, "say thank you to grandma for your new train."

DandR

ditto e...I ignore the demands until they are requests with manners.  Occasionally if my kid is getting upset "I WANT MILK!!!" I say "oh, is that how you ask???" and then I get the "Can I please have some milk?"

I probably started that around 3ish.  before that, I prompted often.

Heidisean

Yes, she says, "God Bless You", thank you, thanks and please all the time.

firefightersgal

Yes, she does.