How to Deal With Lying Child? 12 Helpful Tips

Children lie for many reasons. Maybe they are trying to avoid punishment, get out of trouble, or protect themselves from embarrassment.

This does not mean that your child will grow up to be a pathological liar. Even if you have a chronic prevaricator, there are some easy steps that can help you deal with a lying child.

Why Do Kids Lie?

Before you know how to deal with a lying child, you must have a clear understanding of why your child is lying. This will help you to better deal with this behavior.

There can be a few reasons for this, like because of low self-esteem, or they don’t want to be in trouble or hurt someone! Or they are in need of something and that’s why not telling truth!

To put this short, there can be two main reasons why kids lie:

1. Protection – Children lie to protect themselves from being punished, embarrassed, or bullied. This is why they may claim that “I didn’t break it” even though you know they did or say “I was with my friends” when actually their friend’s mom dropped them off at the movies.
2. Privacy – Sometimes children want to keep things private so they will say “I don’t know” when you ask them a question and then come up with a story later.

Unfortunately, children who lie to avoid scenarios like these usually feel bad afterward and may start to distrust both themselves and others. That’s why it is so important for parents to know how to deal with lying child in simple, direct ways.

How to Deal With a Lying Child? | Tips at a Glance

1. When your child lies, don’t overreact or get into a “How could you?” conversation or lecture.
2. Don’t ask leading questions that encourage your child to lie because you think the truth would be too harsh. For example, if he has just smeared mud all over the living room wall and you ask, “Did you do that?” he is likely to lie because he knows what happened. Instead say, “I saw the mud on the wall” or simply, “You made a mess in here.”
3. Do acknowledge your child’s feelings. If appropriate for his age and emotional development, acknowledge that it’s OK to be angry or sad about a situation even if he doesn’t like the consequences.
4. Don’t beg your child to tell you something. This will make him feel responsible for what happened and may cause him to lie even more.
5. When possible, provide a logical consequence for lying instead of punishment.

Underneath are 12 my best tips that I believe will be helpful to deal with your lying child.

12 Tips on How to Deal With Lying Child

1. Don’t overreact

I know it is hard when our kids act like everything is fine when clearly they are very disturbed. It’s not easy to hide our anger, frustration, and disappointment at their lies but not controlling our emotions will make the situation worse.

Next time your child shows his/her deception inside you, take a deep breath and count to ten. Make sure your face doesn’t show anything as it will make the kid realize that he/she has been busted and this will encourage them to lie more.

2. Acknowledge feelings

When we acknowledge feelings we let our kids know that we are aware of their displeasure, pain, grief, etc. This will encourage them to express their feelings rather than keep them inside.

3. Don’t force apologies

Don’t force kids to apologize using any threats because they’ll learn to say sorry only if they are forced and it won’t be sincere.  The best way is to teach them how an apology should be.

This method will work for kids, especially tweens and teens who are on the rebellious age.  Don’t get all worked up when they refuse to apologize because this often leads to more arguing which just makes kids stubborn.  Instead, look at how your actions might have influenced their behavior.  When they realize that their behavior has influenced you, they will be more willing to apologize.

4. Don’t ask too many questions

This is a gentle approach that usually applies to attention-seeking lies.

I know it’s tempting to ask our kids “why did you lie?”

But, asking them so many questions at this moment will just encourage them to lie more. When they see that you are mostly interested in the whys and whats of their lies, they’ll be tempted to lie even more.

For instance, if they say, “I scored the highest in exams” and you already knew that it’s a lie, still! don’t ask follow-up questions to try to know the truth from their mouth. Instead, the better approach would be to ignore it.

5. Take responsibility for your habits

This can be one of my best tips for you on how to deal with lying child. We all have bad habits that we try to blame on our kids. Taking responsibility for our bad habits is good but constantly blaming your kid for what you do wrong, will make them resent you and lying might be a way of getting back at you.

6. Give advice if asked

Giving advice when it is sought out can make a child trust us more because we are not forcing it on them. I asked about school work, we can offer our advice and if it is sought out we can enclose information to the kid explaining how he/she should do it correctly in the future.

7. Underlying reasons of a child’s lies

To deal with lying child you also need to understand the underlying reasons behind your child’s lies. Are they seeking attention, trying to please others, or dealing with a fear of consequences? By understanding the motivations behind their behavior, you can address the root causes.

8. Reinforce positive behavior

When your child tells you the truth praise them for their honesty! Positive reinforcement can encourage them to continue being truthful in the future.

9. Teach problem-solving skills

If a child does not know how to deal with difficult situations, he or she may feel overwhelmed and lie as a quick and easy way out. So try to help your child develop problem-solving skills rather than resorting to lying as a way of escape.

10. Discuss the consequences of lying

Open communication is very important. Talk to your child about the possible consequences of dishonesty, how lying affects others and yourself. Let him or her know that lying can hurt loved ones and destroy trust in a relationship or friendship.

11. Set the right example

Set an example for your child by being honest in your words and actions. Children learn by watching their parents, so showing them the importance of honesty in their behavior is important.

12. Keep communication channels open

Always keep open channels of communication with your child. Encourage them to come to you with any problems, fears, worries or mistakes, showing them that you will listen, not judge and help them find the right solution.

Encouraging your child to speak the truth

Lying can be harmful to your child’s development. It can erode trust, hinder moral growth, affect emotional well-being, impede interpersonal skills, hinder learning from consequences, and impact self-perception. Encouraging truthfulness and addressing lying behavior is crucial for a child’s development.

To make this topic shorter, the most important tips for encouraging truthfulness are:

1. Teach your child the importance of honesty

2. Explain the consequences of lying

3. Encourage your child to speak the truth by always helping them to get out of problems

4. Reward your child for telling the truth

5. Follow through on consequences

6. Give your child time to think about lying and tell the truth

7. Set a good example by being honest yourself

8. Don’t blame your child for what happens when they’re caught in a lie

9. Believe what your kid is saying and don’t accuse them of lying

Also Checkout: Dealing with sulking kids

Concluding remarks

If you’re really serious about how to deal with a lying child? Honesty is one of the most important values that you can teach your children. It not only builds trust within relationships but also teaches them how to be responsible and accountable for their own actions. When children learn to lie, they often do so as a way of avoiding punishment or getting out of trouble. 

As parents, it’s important to be aware of the consequences of lying and stay consistent with following through on punishments. We should also encourage our kids to speak the truth by setting a good example ourselves and being honest in our interactions with them. 

Ultimately, teaching our children to be truthful will help build strong character foundations that will serve them well throughout life.