Screaming - Norwood,MA

My daughter has been screaming for what feelas like an awful long time. This is the 3rd round! Her pedi said it was due to something not being exactly how she wants it, when she wants it, where she wants it. Whatever the reason (and sometimes I don't believe there is one) she told us to ignore it. I know telling her no doesn't work at all. It is horrible when she does it in public! I try to ignore it but it is really hard. I am hoping she learns to talk soon. Good luck and let me know if you find something that works.

I sort of went through the same thing. My daughter was colic and didn't stop her screaming fits for a VERY long time. She must have been about a few months older then your son when she stopped and we lived in the same setting. Don't worry about the neighbors. It might be annoying to them but I'm sure they understand. I know ours did. As far as the crying it will get better but you have to have a lot of patience. I hate to say its just a stage but thats what it sounds like. You are doing the right thing by telling him that he needs to use an indoor voice. Another thing I can tell you is that if he doesnt have any physical or emotional needs at the time of screaming and he is just doing it to do it then just tell him he needs to use his indoor voice and ignore it. Eventually it will stop trust me!

do you respond when he screams? Try ignoring him for a while .. he may be doing it to get a rise out of you.. kids think that's funny... keep telling him indoor voice too.. good luck

My daughter went through a screaming phase and we just ignored it.....walked away from her but didn't tell her not to. Once she figured out it wasn't going to get her any attention she stopped doing it....it only took 2 days. I hope that helps, if not buy some earplugs. :)

Hi Kelly,

My son did the same thing!!! Ear piercig scream but he also did it when he was happy too!! My only advice is redirect him!! Find something for him to do! A toy, a video(little einstein worked) singing, etc. Books work too. If he is teething badly I purchased the veggie feeder thing and put an ice cube in it and that seemed to soothe him. Good luck with it!! My son is 4 now and he still has the high pitch scream! Sorry!! You are not the only one out there I went through it too and I have met others!!! Have a great day!!!

T. M

Hi Kelly....

You should watch SuperNanny. I swear that's my response to soooo many moms on here, but she's so good. She teaches a lot of basics that I think Moms should focus on b/c it makes life so much easier. One of them is that you don't give in, regardless of the child's behavior - but it's all about how you do it. She typically advises for parents to set up a "Naughty chair" or corner or something in a place that isn't related to fun (i.e. a toy room or their bedroom, but some place more like the dining room or a hallway or something) and that's the place they need to go when they misbehave. She helps parents to set up the structure of discipline that helps parents stick through it and follow thru while avoiding the stress of it all (well, pretty much anyway), but also teaches kids discipline in a way that isn't threatening or in turn teaching the child bad habits. I really recommend that show.

Personally, I don't put up with the screaming temper tantrums and my 7 year old daughter knows it. She's only had 2 in her life and each time (once when she was a toddler in a supermarket and once just a few weeks ago in fact) I dealt with them differently because of her age. But the thing is that regardless of how I discplined, she has known her whole life that Mom doesn't put up with that. I was honestly shocked when she did it a few weeks ago because it's completely out of character for her, but I had to stand back and realize there were a few factors involved (she was overtired). Maybe those outside factors are a reason why your son does it.

Another thing I've read is that with kids, it's typically all about getting attention. They aren't able to differentiate between good attention and bad attention, they just want attention. See, your son is young enough that you can teach him now that behavior like this won't get him what he wants - which means that no matter what he is screaming for, BY NO MEANS DO YOU GIVE IT TO HIM WHEN HE ACTS LIKE THAT or you teach him that that is how he gets his way and he'll keep doing it. Trust me on that one.

Okay, I've been rambling for a while now. You should go on that website and see info about the show. I think you can even watch full episodes online. Give it a shot. She's sooo good!!

Hope this helps. Take care (and grab some ear plugs!!).

R. :)

lol i am not laughing @ your situation. but it brings me back when my now 2.3 use to yell "la la la la laaaaaa la" at the top of his lungs at various times. and sometimes very inappropriate times.
all we could do was laugh. cause when i stressed out, he just did it longer. (it seemed) so we would laugh cause sometimes it was cute. but not at 2 in the morning!!! lol
good luck...i think its all a game. they really don't know the concept of "quiet time" yet. lol crazy babies!!! lol lol

Kelly,
My daughter just finished her screaming phase, and that's all it was- a phase. She was looking for a reaction, and enjoying the power of her own voice. Imagine realizing suddenly that you are capable of making such a big noise! And then people make faces at you, to boot! Ignoring it may work, but if your little one is looking for attention, then giving him lots of your attention before the screams may help to alleviate them. And respond matter-of-factly that it's too loud. No big face, no big reaction, just state the fact- "that's too loud for inside". I would check in with the neighbors as well- they may not really hear him on the other side of the wall, and it could save you some stress worrying about it until he's finished exploring his voice. It's totally normal, and he'll stop as long as you keep your reactions calm, cool, and collected! Maia's were ear-piercing as well, and some days I just wanted to scream with her, but it all goes by so quickly in the end!!
Hope this helps!
Blessings,
H.

Hi Kelly

My son is 3 and has been screaming since he was 11 months old. The only thing that has worked for us is redirecting him. If we are unable to redirect him then we just ignore it. The problem is that other people do not ignore it, so when we are out in pubilc and he screams he gets the attention that he wants. I am sorry that this is the only advice I have for you. I am in the same boat as you and hopefully with time it will pass.