my 4 year old has suddenly begun swearing constantly?

Question

my little boy Tony who is only 4, has suddenly picked up the terrible habit of swearing. He only goes to preschool 3 times a week. He's our only child (I'm pregnant but that's beside the point) so it's not like older siblings taught him. The problem is, he won't just do it at home, he does it while we're out! Dropping f-bombs in the super market, way to make your mom look good! What can I do? This is getting out of hand

Colleen:

He didn't learn it at home, we have a zero tollerence policy for swearing, including us parents! We decided we didn't want our kids swearing so we don't!

Answer 1

First of all, make sure that nobody swears around him at home. Then try to patiently (and repeatedly) tell him what words are not appropriate to use; once you have told him and you know he knows ....if he still does it that means he is trying to get a reaction out of you. Dont get made, yell, fuss...just put him in time out and then go about your business.

Answer 2

Oh yeah, thats no fun! Will he understand if you reason with him, that there are certain words that are bad and he shouldn't say them? That did work with my son... but I think he may have been closer to 5 when we had that talk. My son had more issues with saying "I hate you" so what we did for that was start a reward chart... whenever he went a full day without saying it, he got a point. When he got a full week of points, he got a reward (whatever you decide would work best) - that could help. Otherwise, consistent punishments (timeouts, loss of priveleges, etc.) whenever he swears. Maybe also try to track down where he's picking it up from... he heard it somewhere. Amazing how they zero in on those bad words! Good luck!

Answer 3

To quote the Supernanny, that is "unesseptable."

He should be punished each and every time he swears and you should be consistant with his punishments. It's your call on how you want to punish him...time outs, taking away a toy, whatever. Either way, he needs to understand that he can NOT say certain words. .

If I were you, I'd also teach him words that can go in their place...such as the F word can be replaced with darn, or dang or applesauce LOL anything you can think of. That way, he can get his frustration out without using cuss words.

Congrats on your pregnancy!

Answer 4

I had the same problem! The only thing that worked for me was washing his mouth out with soap! I used dish soap and just a little bit, to get the point across. He eventually stopped when he got tired of the taste of soap.

Answer 5

go to his preschool and confront everyone who works there or goes there, truth is he's probably picked it up from some mother or father who is always late dropping there kid off as they drop their keys and food all down them in a desperate attempt to get to work dropping the odd F word here and there.

Answer 6

don't teach him another word like fudge, use your zero tolerance, i would remove him from that preschool, immediately, and write them a letter why, keep up with consistent discipline and he will stop, don't react when he swears just enforce the punishment

Answer 7

When i was little and I cussed my mom washed my mouth out with soap.. i remember HATING it, but it worked... the F bombs are very nasty words that he just not be using.. I suggest being very firm with him telling him that those wrods are off limits and tell him how big boys dont say words like that!!! you have to remember that kids at that age or like sponges.. He could have picked it up anywhere!

Answer 8

It's true the only thing that works for my kids is dishwashing liquid. my neighbor did it to her boy when he was 2 or so and he's 8.5 now and still to this day will not say a no-no word

Answer 9

Well he is learning it somewhere and just because there isn't an older sibling doesn't mean he's not learning it in the home.

Answer 10

Kids learn what they are around. I would have a talk with the preschool or change schools. try hot sauce in his mouth when he does it.