How do you handle a sassy, mouthy child or one who swears at you or calls you names?

Answer 1

What worked for me was all got all quiet like, even laughed and told my daughter..go ahead, try it, I dare you...she just looked at me, and I kept kind of chuckling. Eventually she told me to stop it, that I was scaring her....she hasn't gotten snotty with me since, that was about 3 years ago, she's 15 now.

I just scared her into think I was going to snap...seemed to do the trick. I've never been one to take any crap from her so as soon as she tried to pull that with me, I put an immediate stop to it ;)

Answer 2

You didn't say how old the child is. For a young child, "ignoring and redirecting" his attention works best. In other words, the child may be "sassy and mouthy" in order to get your attention--even when that attention is negative. So try this instead: The next time the child starts to swear or berate you, COMPLETELY ignore him or her. That means no talking to the child and no eye contact. As soon as he or she stops, reward with engaging the child in an activity such as helping to make cookies by arranging the dough on a cookie sheet. Give lots of attention and praise for a job well done. You will be discouraging negative behavior and encouraging positive behavior through reward--an old-and-tried behavior modification technique.
P.S. -- I would never recommend slapping or spanking the child. Discipline is about teaching, not punishment. You can teach children what they need without hurting them. And the more you use punishment (as many of the responders have suggested here), the less effective it becomes.

Answer 3

Do not ever hit the child. You obviously raised him/her with this mouth if they can swear at you and you have been letting the child get away with it up until this point.

You have the control, but he/she has to respect your word. When you say something, you have to make sure you mean what you say. If you do not like it when he/she says something wrong, you have to start by saying " OKAY, that's the end. We have to work together and Mommy doesn't like when you talk like that". Tell the child if they keep it up, they will have to get punished, but if it stops, you will make him/her the happiest kid on this planet, because you will be so proud. Well, use your imagination from there. It works everytime. Lots of luck

Answer 4

Well it depends on the age of the child for the most part. Time out would be a solution for any child but you have to be consistent about it. Take away privileges such a television, music, computer, spending time with friends. Hopefully the child will eventually realize that they can not get by with treating you that way.

Answer 5

Take the child to a metal health clinic or tell the childs teacher of the behavior. Call social services and notify them of the behavior. You do not need to be abused. The child has an issue and is using you for a stress ball.

Answer 6

I'll probably get several thumbs downs for answering this but I seriously wouldn't tolerate that kind of behavior no matter what the age of the child was. I am pro-spanking (no not beating) and I believe in this case it would be of benefit to the child in question.

If the child is toddler age, I light smack on the bottom won't hurt him/her and will help them realize that this type of language won't be accepted. If the child is older, a couple swats won't do permanent damage.

My mother always threatened to wash my mouth out with soap-but I would advise against that! You could try the 'ole hot sauce trick. (Unless the child likes spicy food).

Hope this helps.

Answer 7

You need to stop it while they are young or you will end up on Maury trying to get an intervention going. My mom would pop me right in my smart little mouth when I got out of hand with her. You can't hardly discipline a child the way we were back in the day but I'll tell you what. I am a firm believer in spanking a kid when they are out of order and that's probably what you need to do, Mabel a spank on the hand or on the bottom and let them know why are you doing it, and give them other words to replace the bad words that they use. A disrespectful child grows up to be a disrespectful and law breaking adult-stop them while they are young.....good luck to you.

Answer 8

If you do not react when they say something sassy, it means nothing to them. They are looking for a reaction. If you cannot help but say something, say " No!!! That is not nice to say to anybody". It takes a lot of control, but they will get the hang of it. Kind of like if you had to teach them a sleep pattern when they were a baby. Eventually, if you keep up with it(consistent every time), they will get the picture. If you hit, they will hit. Good luck.

Answer 9

Assuming you are talking about your own child, you make sure that you never give in to that kind of behavior. If your kid wants something from you, they will then learn not to act that way.

Yeah, and spanking is a great idea too, if you just want to release your frustrations in some manner. Only problem is, it does not work. The kid will just continue to mouth off behind your back and only learns how to be a bully as well as a smarta**.

Answer 10

Well the child is certainly headed down the path to self destruction. #1 you do not put up with it.....you correct it by grounding, taking away favorite privileges, maybe even a spanking. If you are the parent then start parenting....you child's future depends on it.....you must have rules in your family now.....and you must make sure that all children stick to them....other wise....this child is going ot end up on drugs, alcohol, if it is a female, she may very well end up pregnant.. You must demand respect......and set for these rules.....the rules and boundaries are for the child's safety. Will they like them after being allowed to run free....oh NO, it is actually going to get worse b4 it gets better.....you have to remember and remind.....who the adult is in the family.

Answer 11

Ignore the child when thes behavior is going on .I have a 10 year old and 4 other children and we have learned to completeley ignore him his behavior seems to be getting better,we tried the smacking and sending to room and various other things but ignorng him works best , hes not getting the attention he wants ,when hes behaving we give him heaps of attintion. Good luck.........