Why Does My Toddler Keep Asking The Same Questions ?

Toddlers enjoy hearing the same story, exactly the same way, over and over again. That is how he likes to learn. He enjoys the routine and security for hearing something familiar. He knows he is learning by filling in the answers he has heard before. Repetition helps to enhance his memory and mastery in almost all aspects of life. Therefore, it is common for a toddler to repeat the same question or request 20 times or more. The parent should not get frustrated with a toddler’s never ending repetition of questions. They should give him the right answer every time he asks. By always staying with your toddler, question for question, you are establishing the trust and respect he is seeking.

Most of the toddlers have already known the answers to many of their questions, but they like to repeat the answers to themselves to exercise their memories. They are also testing your level of interest. Therefore, it is in fact a important test for parent to pass. Most parents begin to ignore or grow impatient thinking that their toddler has grown wilfully obnoxious. “Timmy, how many times are you going to ask the same question?”, “I already told you what it is!” Such responses inhibit a child’s motivation to inquire and acquire. The question-asking stage is an important stage of a toddler which should be taken seriously by parents as a child’s serious effort to extend vocabulary and obtain information.

One psychologist and researcher actually tracked his own three-year-old in terms of how many questions a day he asked. He counted 376 times. I tried it with my own three-year-old toddler and counted 325 times that day. Hence, parent should remain cool and understanding when you respond to child questioning and show respect to him. Wise response is essential in building a trusting relationship with him, helping him to learn and grow as a happy child and motivates him to learn and master knowledge in life.

When you give him the answer, try to keep it as simple as possible. Try to control your impulse to explain with elaboration or come with a long and interesting answer. Toddlers take delights in their ability to focus on the simplicity of what you are saying. At the end of the question-answer, a parent may tell their toddler, “Thank you, Jim, for asking, “ “thank you for understanding” or just a simple “thank you”. This gives a more mature overtone and promotes more “big boy/girl” behaviour.

Parents should be grateful that children come to them with an inquiring mind. Their inquisitive mind is a healthy signal that her mind is expanding quickly, and they are curious about the world. They are going through a normal and healthy developmental phase when they ask questions. Whether they are manipulating or learning, at least they exercising their brain to think and ask.

After the repetitive “what is this?” question, you get many ‘why’ questions. If they ask a lot of “why” questions, they are beginning to understand the concept of cause and effect and there exists a reason for almost every phenomena they observe. As they continue to ask questions, they are also trying to engage you in a conversation and keep you talking.

If you are tired of the repetitive questions, don’t give up and fall back to a simple answer, “that is just the way it is”. You could encourage them to think further by asking them what they think. If both of you don’t have the answer, write down the question in a “question book” and find out the answer together later from an encyclopedia, google search, visiting a library, or museum. Let them see you searching for the answers, so that they are delighted to know you are taking their questions seriously.

And remember this, children learn best when they ask questions, when compare to teaching in the classroom, or other involuntarily learning methods. They are most focus to the topic and will remember the answer for the longest time.

Some Wise Children Quotes

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer. ~Author Unknown

Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it. ~Harold Hulbert

Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music. ~William Stafford

A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm. ~Bill Vaughan

If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all. ~Pearl S. Buck

Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next. ~Franklin P. Jones

Children make you want to start life over. ~Muhammad Ali

Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. ~Author Unknown

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about. ~Angela Schwindt

What is a home without children? Quiet. ~Henny Youngman

A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to. ~Robert Brault

If we would listen to our kids, we'd discover that they are largely self-explanatory. ~Robert Brault

There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child. ~Frank A. Clark

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. ~Frederick Douglass

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. ~Walt Streightiff

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