3 Year Old Interrupting Anything That Is Not About Her.

It is normal - my 3 year old does it. Fopr example, the other day in the car, I am talking to his mom and so I asked him if he could be quiet just for a couple of minutes. He said sorry and then repeated everything I said in my conversation with her. Like an echo. We were trying not to laugh, they are so FUNNY at that age. Even at 4 it will continue somewhat - I remember doing it myself as a child!!

Discipline. My kids both went through this briefly. NO amount of asking them to stop interrupting would help on the phone. Finally I had to say, "Excuse me, so and so, I'll call you right back." Which of course stopped the chit chat short and made their eyes as big as saucers. Then they each got swatted because I had warned them calmly TWICE to be quiet. Now whenever I say, "Wait I may need to get off the phone, Guys, do you need me to ask you again?" they quiet right down. Same with interrupting adults talking. One warning, then a consequence. My husband and I do NOT allow that, and both kids learned quickly to wait for a break in the conversation before saying 'excuse me' and then talking. Be firm and consistent.

This very normal. At that age, the world is about her. You will need to teach her that doing so is inappropriate in a way that she understands. Decide upon a consequence every time she interrupts and calmly enforce the do not interrupt rule. It sounds like the way you're responding now gets her attention.

If you quietly and consistently give her a time out or send her to her room to play she will learn to not interrupt. You have to do this every time and in a calm, matter of fact way so that she knows you mean business and that she can't get an emotional response out of you by interrupting. When you get irritated/angry you are giving her attention. When you quietly take her to her room or the time out chair, your body is interacting with her but you, as a "person," are not. I don't know how to explain that but I now it makes a difference and is more apt to end her behavior.

Just tell her, "I am about to make a phone call. You may sit next to me, but DO NOT interrupt me."

Or "I am going to make a phone call and it is going to be boring, do you want to watch a video or go and play in your room? Remember do not interrupt me while I am on the phone."

"Dad and I are having a conversation, do not interrupt us." "It is not nice manners to interrupt a grown up conversation."

"Give us 5 minutes to talk. It is not good manners to interrupt us."

If you are on the phone and she does interrupt, "Please do not interrupt my phone call." or 'Remember it is not nice manners to interrupt a phone call."

" I am having a phone conversation, I will speak with you when I am finished."

Punishment for interruptions after she has been told to stop is a time out.

Thanking her for not interrupting is telling her "Thank you for not interrupting my phone call,."

"I like your good manners, when you did not interrupting my phone call," "Thank you for your patience."

Do you have any good stories about good manners. We liked the Berenstien Bears books about manners..

Mom,
Sounds like you are letting your 3 yr old rule the roost. Explain to her calmly and nicely that when Mom or Daddy is on the phone,talking to each other or if Daddy or another grown up there in person, it is not nice for her to come over and talk at the same time. She will not understand what the word i"nterupting" is, but if you explain the concept at a three yr old level she will get it. Next time she does this after you have had this talk with her put your "stop hand" I call it in the direction of her face and tell her firmly, but not with a raised voice, "Kate.. Mommy is talking to a grown-up right now( or Daddy now), I will talk to you when I am finished then turn your back to her continuing to talk on the phone or to the other person present. In the little talk you had earlier about this problem let her know the only time she can bother you when UR on the phone or in person is if there is an "emergency". Explain that an emergency is when she or a sibling is hurt or sick or there is a danger. Young children understand this concept once it is explanied taught to them and explained unusually. I teach young children and we teach then this early on in preschool. We need to especially at drop off or pick -up when you may have 12 or more children who want to talk when you are talking to a parent. Hope this helps Mom

I don't think it has anything to do with how often you're on the phone. This is just typical toddler behavior. My son used to do this all the time when he was 3. I explained that he was not allowed to talk to me (or make other loud noise) while I was on the phone unless it was an emergency or he said "excuse me." I explained this once the conversation was over. If he interrupted during a conversation, I would just say, "One minute, please; I'm talking right now." If he continued to interrupt, I would put him in a room with a door (we have several, not just bedrooms) I could latch shut and tell him he could play in there until I was finished. We did the same thing when adults were trying to have in-person conversations. Now both my sons (4 and 2 at this point) are very good at saying "excuse me." At first they thought that saying "excuse me" meant they could talk right away, but now they even wait until we tell them it's their turn. I hold up my finger to let them know I've heard them and will let them talk as soon as there is a polite way to stop the conversation. It just takes a little patience and a lot of practice.

This is perfectly normal, and I think it takes MANY lessons for this to be taught - just be consistent and patient in continuing to teach how this involves manners, and it is not nice to interrupt people having a conservation. It's great if you can think to sit down and have a talk when you are alone - do some role playing. It's much harder to bring it up when it is actually happening. As she gets older, you can teach her to recognize a proper pause in the conversation, so that if she needs to tell you something that may not particularly be an emergency - something like "Excuse me Mommy. I'm just going over to that slide now if that's all right." she'll start to get the nuances of polite manners. And certainly you need her to understand the very special situations when it is okay to interrupt such as "Mommy, Johnny just climbed up that tree and I think he might fall out." or "Mommy, I feel like I'm going to throw up." While I think that some of the other suggestions are fine, I don't agree with distinguishing "talking to a grown up" - it is just plain rude to interrupt ANYONE who is talking. When she's 10 years old - it is going to be rude for her to interrupt her friends who are talking - or if you are talking to another child it would be rude to interrupt - so I just wouldn't distinguish it by "when two adults are talking." Good manners are just good manners no matter what the ages. Good luck - my youngest is now 8 years old and my oldest is 10, and they are the worst at interrupting each other - so we still revisit this lesson from time to time.

Just stop her in her tracks. Say, "Hush, I am talking." Use a term she understands - whether "interrupting" is the word or "being rude" or "not nice" - but use the same thing over and over. One common thing many of us do that is NOT helpful is to go into a long tirade about how interrupting is rude and it's not about the kid, etc. - but what we're really doing is making the interruption successful and making the conversation all about the kid anyway! We say "I don't like it when you interrupt me. Now, what is it you want?" So of course they continue to interrupt because they find it gets them the attention.

So use as little time as possible. Say NO and if she does it again, separate her from you - put her in her room or whatever. DO NOT respond to the yelling at all. Do not engage in a discussion of why it's rude or not allowed. Immediately take away her ability to get attention. Then, when the "time out" is over, you can explain the rules to her again. In the car, I have actually stopped the car and gotten out to talk to my husband at the side of the vehicle, leaving my son alone with no attention. It works!

Using the "stop hand" as another person suggested - something visual can be helpful in addition to your words. Some kids don't hear your words, especially when they are yelling!

Just be consistent.