5 Tips to Keep Kids from Interrupting You
Surely there are many times when you’re talking to someone else and your child keeps calling out to you until you finally listen. And maybe what they had to say wasn’t important to you, but it sure was to them. We can keep kids from interrupting by following some of the tips we’ll suggest below.
Children interrupt because of their impatience, or because they want to get your attention. Between the ages of 3 and 6 is when interruptions occur more frequently.
But we can try to correct these interruptions so that children stop this bad habit. Little by little, they’ll stop doing this and will learn to regulate their behavior. Do you want to know some tips on how to keep your kids from interrupting you? You’ll find out what you need to know in the article below.
Why are children constantly interrupting you?
Children don’t interrupt because they want to annoy their parents. The issue lies in the fact that, when they’re young, they’re impulsive and aren’t able to control their behavior because the brain region in charge of regulating behavior isn’t sufficiently developed.
It’s also important to note that their short-term memory hasn’t fully developed yet, and they have to tell their parents what they’re thinking so that they don’t forget.
Between the ages of 3 and 6, which is when most disruptions occur, children haven’t yet developed reflective thinking, which is what helps us to think about what the consequences of our actions will be in advance. So, children act impulsively.
Until the age of 6, children think that the world revolves around them and that all their needs come first; this is called egocentric thinking. But we can teach children not to interrupt. With a large dose of perseverance and patience, you can achieve your goal and keep your kids from interrupting you.
Tips to keep children from interrupting
These tips can help us to correct the bad habit that children have of interrupting. It’s good to add that these suggestions are only one way to go about it, so you can choose the one that best suits you, or the one you like the most.
Active listening
If you’re talking and your child interrupts you, you stop the conversation for a moment, put yourself at their level and say: “Now I’m busy talking to this person (you’ll say their name). Wait a little bit and I’ll listen to you right away.”
Immediately after you finish the conversation with the other person, you let your child know so that they can tell you what they wanted to tell you.
Teaching self-control to prevent children from interrupting
If we teach our children to control themselves, not only will it be beneficial when it comes to keeping them from interrupting our conversations, but it’ll also contribute to their emotional and affective development.
One technique you can use to help children develop their self-control is breathing. You’ll ask the child to inhale air through the mouth until their lungs are full, and then expel it little by little through the mouth.
This should be done several times until they feel calm. You can do it with them so that they learn how to do it.
Prioritize
You need to establish a list of priorities. So, you’ll put situations in order according to their importance and level of urgency. It’s important for children to differentiate moments when it’s necessary to interrupt you because of their importance from those that can wait.
For example, if your child has hurt themself or has to go to the bathroom, these are moments that are at the top of the list. Meanwhile, going to the park or knowing where their toy is, or that they can’t find a certain thing, can wait.
Teach them how to interrupt you
You can create a code with your child to know that they need to tell you or show you something important. That strategy can be to shake hands or to stand in front of you and touch a leg, so that you, as a parent, will know that they need something without interrupting you.
Not paying attention immediately
You can use this strategy when you see that what they want to tell us isn’t urgent. You’ll finish what you’re doing before you pay attention to them.
If immediately after they ask for your attention, they get your attention, you’ll be reinforcing this behavior and you’ll be telling them that they’re doing well.
If they interrupt you and you ask them to wait, finish what you’re doing and then ask them what they want, you’re teaching them to control their impulses, wait, and not interrupt.
To keep children from interrupting
These tips will help you keep your kids from interrupting you, but they need to be used frequently. Just because you use them once and your children keep interrupting doesn’t mean they’re ineffective. It all takes patience, time and consistency.
It’s important to use these positive discipline techniques and avoid punishments and yelling. These will only harm your child’s emotional development. Little by little, they’ll learn to wait while you do something else.