Help with Screaming Child

I tried talking very quietly with some good results. Otherwise giving as little attention to it as possible is a good idea.

My son did this as well, however, I was not working full time and everything with children is based around stability. I would find out what the daycare is doing when he screams so that you can both be on the same page. If you're doing one thing at home and the daycare's not doing it there, nothing's going to work.

With my son, all I did was put my finger to his cheek and say, "no screaming". But you have to do it EVERY time.

Stability is key.

My daughter used to do that when she was about that age (she is now 18 months old). She would make these noises that would literally hurt my ears because they were so high pitched and she was not throwing a fit either. She just loved the sound of her own voice...she still does. But she grew out of it. She now makes noises that are more like words instead of just sounds. While it may be difficult to deal with right now, he will probably grow out of it so quickly that one day he just won't do it anymore and you won't even realize it. Just stick it out for a little longer and just relax. It is normal.

I had a screeching screamer with son #2. Unfortunately, after much experimentation, I learned that nothing seemed to work. We tried ignoring him, he's scream louder. We tried immitating him - that also made him louder while laughing. It was something he simply had to outgrow (and his lasted until about 18 months).

This time around, with son #3, when he started in on the screaming and screeching, I chose to give it an extremely limited reaction by saying gently, "You really like to scream." and then trying to redirect him by grabbing some of his toys for myself, sitting on the floor and playing. He'd forget all about screaming and want to play with me or whatever I had. I've also tried whispering to him and it often works to quiet him so he can hear what I'm saying. Sometimes I take him outside while telling him, "If you want to scream, it should be done outside" but I don't want him to associate screaming with getting to go outside (b/c he LOVES being outside, so I don't want to reward thus encourage the screaming). When we're in the car and he starts to scream, I ask if he needs something and offer him food and drink. Sometimes he just wants a toy. When all else fails, I turn up the radio and ignore the screeches while reminding myself that no stage lasts forever.

I know it hurts your ears and is extremely annoying, but if your son is getting a colorful reaction from you where you light up like a Christmas bulb when he screams, that just makes it WAY more fun and will make the stage last much longer. I think some kids enjoy it more than others, but if he's in a daycare, I'm sure he's not the first screamer and, unfortunately for the other kids, that's the price they pay when their parents send them there (having to tolerate other kids' issues, be it biting or screaming, etc.).

Both of my kids did the same thing around that age. It lasted several weeks.They are now 2 and 3. My two year old has recently begun to do it again. When she does it I talk to her in a quiet, pleasant voice. If she was screaming words I repeat those words in my soft voice, hoping she will imitate. I also explain to her in my soft voice that she is too loud and that when we are inside we need to use our indoor voice, or we need to be quiet because Daddy is sleeping, etc.

I know what your saying, my know 8 month old started mimicing everything we did since 6 months. she isn't as bad know,but i can tell you my best friends daughter does it and when she started to do it everyone thought it was just so cute & funny. know we can be walking in a mall and out the blue this high pitch scream and everyone is stopping and looking at us like we did something.her ped said to keeping saying Shhh and never laugh at it. says she will out grow it and move onto something different.