Volume Control for Toddlers

Hi ET!
Reading your question made me remember a funny story. My daughter was just a little younger than your little man when she decided that she was going to be loud all the time. Not a moment went by that the neighbors did not know when she was awake. So one day a friend had come to visit and she was in her playpen while I was cleaning up a bit. He was picking at her and trying to find something for her to watch on tv. So with remote in hand he said to me "I wonder if this works..." and he pointed the remote at her and pushed the down button for the volume. Amazingly enough, her volume went down. It was the funniest thing. It only worked once though...darnit! :-)

Now on to advice...
When working in daycare I learned that if you would speak in normal tones or whispers to the children they have to be quiet to listen. My youngest daughter (now 3) will do it to me if I get to loud :).
I have always believed that if a child is being quiet they are up to something...so quiet= trouble and noise = playing.

Umm, perhaps never =) My husband is in his thirties and still hasn't mastered it.

I would simply keep reminding him of the difference between inside voice and outside voice - and modeling good behavior for your son.

What my 3 yo daugther likes to do when I remind her that we don't yell in the house, is ask to go outside so she can scream. I usually let her. Or, if we're in the car, as soon as we get out she starts to scream. I just let her.

Hi ET!

Kids seem to get 'volume' control over their voices shortly before they discover how loud they can crank music!! (joke!)

Your question brought to mind an ad from years ago ..."want to get someone's attention? whisper"...with a sultry female using a whispering voice. One day, with screaming baby, todddlers and older kids...I was loosing MY MIND! So I began to whisper to them. First one saw...then another...each trying to get other's to settle down. It worked in THAT moment, and a few times since...

To be honest, with my crew, it was the silence that caught my attention. Noise typically meant all were OK...silence meant someone was up to something!

Seriously...I would try saying "Inside voice" in a whisper when 'volume' is too loud...will get the kiddo to laugh if nothing else!

Take Care
Michele/catwalk

Hi ET,

When my son was about 2 years old, my sister in law started playing a game with him. She told him he had 3 imaginary buttons across his chest. One on each shoulder and a big one right in the middle. The shoulder buttons were volume up and volume down and the big special one on his chest was his mute button. They would play and if he got too loud she would tell him volume down and he would press the button until she said that was perfect. When he wanted to get louder he would push the volume up button to the point we were telling him mute. Surprisingly, he still understands that they still work and he is now almost 6. Turn their voice volume into a game and see if it works for you!!

Good luck!!