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David Boshton
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When my 4 yo has to do something he doesn't want to, he completely blocks communication with moans/cries/wails. How can I get him to respond?

It's quite a recent thing. Sometimes we have done something that we know he will like and because he's in this mode of moaning/crying/wailing we can't communicate to him at all and explain what's going on. We have tried, but because his focus is on making noise, he doesn't hear it. For example, the dialogue goes:
"It's time to get dressed for school now"
"No."
"We'll help you get dressed, but it is time or you'll be late"
"No. I don't want to get dressed!" at this point this is repeated for many minutes. Any further negotiations, incentives, consequences; communication of any type is totally blocked because he's just saying the same thing over and over. What should we do to resolve the situation?

David Boshton
  • 3.9k
  • 1
  • 16
  • 31