Pre-School and Daycare

Yelling in the car

I can't seem to snuff out this problem.

Sometimes my ds has bad behavior in the car.  He will yell at his sister, telling her she's a bad girl and does she want a timeout.  He will mimic her happy yells, so there will be a "AHH!!!!" pingpong match in my backseat.  He will sing his songs very loudly and add a lot of "poopy" word replacements.

It happens mostly when he's tired or overstimulated.   The loud singing usually comes when I've turned on music to get my dd to stop crying.  So, turning off the radio as a consequence is fine by him and he'll even say "I didn't like the music anyway". 

He's not being "bad" per say, but just very, very silly and nothing I say really calms him down.  I've tried telling him he won't get something when we get home.  I don't spank, so there's no threat of that.  Asking him nicely and talking about how loud yells hurts my ears and all of that ("we might get into an accident") goes over his head.

Oddly, other times, he quiets right down and acts nicely.  But some times... yikes.  I get the image of the dad reaching back to give the kids a smack because it frustrates me sooooo much.  

Only thing that has worked is playing I Spy, but I'd like to try to prevent the behavior first and not always reward it with a fun game.  Any suggestions?

Re: Yelling in the car

  • imagefredalina:
    Something to take his interest for the car? Coloring book, Magnadoodle, even a small tablet with a video or something?

    I'll have to try the mini magnadoddle.  We have a good collection of books and stuffed animals in the car already, so I don't think he's interested in a toy.  He just seems to want to get a little crazy.  Which I can appreciate... when I'm not driving...lol.   It's usually just a 10 minute drive, so how much entertaining does one need?

    I think it's a bit of pushing the boundaries... he knows not much will happen with him not listening to me.  He's tired, I'm tired and at that point I just want to get home or where ever we are going. 

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  • imagefredalina:
    I think you're right; he knows nothing will happen with you driving. He'll probably be a car-talker as a teen ;).  You could try cracking the back windows for white noise or get him his own ipod maybe.

    He does like the back window open, so I might start doing it.

    That or get a flyswatter.  Kidding, kidding.....

  • When ds does this I give him a "car time out".  Which is me ignoring him for 3 minutes once he gets quiet.  I just tell him once and then ignore well he carries on then I will give him a gentle reminder that time out doesn't start until he is quiet.  I haven't done this for awhile so I guess it worked.

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  • We pull over and do a time out on the side of the road or parking lot. This normally works for us. I normall do 3 strikes and out in my house. So 3 warnings about appropriate behavior and if he can't pull it together we pull over.
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  • Have you tried talking to him super quietly or talk without your voice?

    DS is a yeller too.  When he doesn't listen to the 'inside voice' request, sometimes i'll talk to him super quiet or just mouth words which forces him to stop yelling and try to hear me.  I'll be really expressive to make what I'm saying sound really interesting.

    It works well with angry adult customers (when I used to work in retail). lol

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  • Thanks for all of the suggestions, ladies.  I will have to try some of them.  Unfortunately, doing a TO when we get home won't work very often , as we are usually on our way somewhere or I'm on my way to work.  Maybe turning off the music and pulling over or the whispering might work.
  • I just ignore him.  It's super annoying, but the more I talk to him, the more he does it.
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