# can you teach a 2 year old to whisper?



## quietserena (Apr 24, 2006)

My toddler wakes up my infant entirely too often. Does anyone have any advice on how to convey to DD1 (2.5) that she's being too loud? Even if I clamp my hand over her mouth, she just continues to talk and talk loudly at that!


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## Super Glue Mommy (Jan 4, 2009)

well, clamping a hand over the mouth is NOT going to work lol

If you whisper a lot she will start to whisper. My DD learned to whisper as early as she learned to tlak. doesn't mean she always whispers when I want her too lol. but just keep modeling it. there is no "quick fix" with 100% effectiveness that I know of. wouldnt it be nice to just say "I need you to whisper" and them listen?


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## LuckyMommaToo (Aug 14, 2003)

I highly recommend a white noise machine for the littler one. They don't have any impulse control at 2.5.
-e


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## Boot (Jan 22, 2008)

The little girl I babysit is so cute. Aat random times she'll whisper 'quiet, mummy teaching!' Obviously someone is whispering that to her but I've no idea if it works. I think, like the PP said, it's just a question of repetition.


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## pacificbliss (Jun 17, 2006)

My son whispers if I whisper but I have no idea how long he would be able to sustain it.


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## Murph12334 (Nov 12, 2003)

it never worked for long periods, most i ever got out of my dd was one or two words, then she'd sqeel at the "game" of whispering and be louder than before


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## quietserena (Apr 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Murph12334* 
it never worked for long periods, most i ever got out of my dd was one or two words, then she'd sqeel at the "game" of whispering and be louder than before









this is exactly what happens.

two year olds are funny


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## AllisonR (May 5, 2006)

I think it really depends on your DC, and not sure it is trainable at that age. Either they have the knack or they don't, kwim?

DS is 4.5 and has just learned to whisper - before it was a few words or a loud stage whisper. He also just figured out that when you play hide and seek you have to be silent if you don't want the person to find you. He used to shout "here I am!"









DD has been able to be silent with hide and seek since maybe 18 months, and taught DS how to do it by example. She also can do a real whisper if you tell her a baby is sleeping, and will keep it up for a while until she forgets. But this might be 10 min or even an hour, but I don't think she would be able to whisper for 3 hours straight if a baby was sleeping.


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## lolar2 (Nov 8, 2005)

You can teach "how" by example, but you can't reliably get them TO do it when you want. So, yeah, white noise machine and maybe a lullaby recording for good measure.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

My daughter was almost 3 when my son was born, and she's been pretty good about whispering when needed. I think it has really been mostly from modeling. Sometimes though, when she is really wound up, she whispers VERY LOUDLY..like a breathy yell.









If I am lucky enough to actually get the baby off of me for a nap, I turn on the fan in the bedroom. I've found that it's even better than the white noise on the sound soother we have at blocking stuff out.


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## PatchChild (Sep 1, 2006)

I agree with the posters above. It's very, very, very hard for a 2 year old to sustain it as anything other than a short term game.

In general though, if they have a louder voice, just lower yours a little bit at a time when you are talking to them over a conversation. Their voice will tend to follow yours to a quieter volume.


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