when does the "why?" phase end?

[gcc2k]

Ever since DS1 hit 3 (he'll be 3.5 in July), he has been asking "why?" nonstop. He is a constant talker anyway (as mentioned by his preschool teacher, Romp 'n Roll gym teacher, church nursery caretaker, friends, etc.) but now he has so many questions. Usually I can handle the barrage of curiosity all day long, but sometimes it's exhausting. "Why? How? What would happen if...?" It's almost a reflex! One day I dropped my keys and said, "Oops!" And his response was, "why?" Why did I say oops? Why did I drop my keys? Dear Lord, when does it let up? This isn't really a BP because I'm thankful for his excellent verbal skills and curiosity, but I'm just hoping that the fountain of questions will slow down a little. Please tell me how much longer I need to brace myself.

[TwoBees]

DD1 is 4.5 and I don't anticipate her stopping any time soon. Good luck!

ETA: it has become a little less frequent. A little.

[egoldber]

Well, my oldest is almost 13.....

[mikala]

What happens if you ask him a question in return? When he asks why you could ask him why he thinks xyz happened. My oldest is almost 5 and still asks tons of questions but they are becoming more complex over time.

[lhafer]

Wait...it ends???

To help curb some of the why questions, when I asked why, I responded with "why do YOU think xyz?" Once my daughter realized she had to start answering questions herself, the why questions rapidly lessened.

[Ms B]

The Biscuit shifted from "What?" to "Why?" about a month ago. He will ask it three, or six, or eleven times in a row.

My MIL says the only solution she found when DH was a kid was to send him to the World Book to look it up -- which I assume now means the internet. But I figure it is at least a couple years before The Biscuit can do that himself (I read at four, but did not look things up until 1st grade or so), so I expect that is how long the stage will last at my house.

[DualvansMommy]

DS1 started off by saying what or what happened? To the why's now and he'll be 3 in June. Like you, I love his curiosity but do find his constant barrage of why's exhausting.

It's only recently that I made him answer whenever I ask why do you think this xy happens and I usually make him reply back in sign language too. Once he realized how much sign he has to do, the questioning lessened :-)

[lalasmama]

When DD did the reflexive "why" (aka her talking to hear her own voice), we would ask something back. If it got to a stupid place (ie, answering questions that she knows the answer to), then I would say, "The Why Window is closed for now. You may ask other questions." That made her stop and think about what she was asking.

[gcc2k]

Wait...it ends???

To help curb some of the why questions, when I asked why, I responded with "why do YOU think xyz?" Once my daughter realized she had to start answering questions herself, the why questions rapidly lessened.


I do this a lot now already. Often he can answer the question for me, but it doesn't appear to be decreasing the questions much. Sometimes he asks "why?" for the same thing over and over, and I'll ask him to repeat what I just said to make sure he's listening. He is listening, but he loves to ask questions over and over!

[gcc2k]

When DD did the reflexive "why" (aka her talking to hear her own voice), we would ask something back. If it got to a stupid place (ie, answering questions that she knows the answer to), then I would say, "The Why Window is closed for now. You may ask other questions." That made her stop and think about what she was asking.

Good suggestion!

[Dream]

My older DD is 5.5 and still going strong. Like yours she loves talking and everyone we come across mentions she talks a lot.

[Mommy_Mea]

Oh, I like the Why Window! Wonder if that would work on DS1. He is nearly 5, and I would say the incessant question asking is getting more frequent. He is a smart, curious kid, and I don't want to discourage it, but I agree it can get VERY frustrating, especially if you are trying to concentrate on something else (like driving, his favorite place to ask questions since he has a captive audience!)

DH has started to try to turn the questions around and ask his why HE thinks XYZ, but so far it just gets DS1 mad. Maybe the Why Window will help more :)

[Mopey]

With Mopey it's "what's that?" so far.....and turning it right around totally makes her stop. I can answer the same ten times in a row, but when I say, "what do you think that is?" she answers and drops it.

Not looking forward to the whyyyyyyyyyys ;)