Parenting Toddlers (1-3) Support Group

From my experience with 3 kids it is them finding a new sound and doing it continuously. My son is 29 mos and has been doing it since about 18 mos and we have tried it all and it doesnt stop,I have seen other kids his age at the park and McDonalds playland and they all do it too so I guess it is normal-good luck!

My son is 19 months old now and he did the screaming thing like that. I finally had to pop his mouth a couple of times and he finally stopped. Like you I was scared that he was hurt and he would always put me in a panic state. Now if he tries to scream for no reason I always say do you need me to pop you and he would stop.

can you start teaching him how to use inside and outside voices? My daughter doesn't scream that much and it always works for me telling her that we don't scream indside. And I show her how we talk inside.

Is it the type of screams that have no tears with them? My son started the screaming thing around the same age and I always thought it was because he was getting to know his voice,what it sounded like. He would scream at such a pitch that would call all dogs in the area. I have been told and read to just to ignore them when they scream I know that is hard. I would sometimes scream (not in a mean tone)back to make him aware of what he is doing. My son is over two now and rarely screams. I tried redirecting his attention a lot. If nothing else works ...put a earplug in one of yours ears. LOL

I forgot to add.....my sister who has five kids and is a real good mother, told me to try a water bottle and spray it lightly in their face the second after they scream and they stop. I know this sounds a little mean,but you are not hurting them in anyway. Just a thought.

My daughter went through the same thing and still likes to scream from time to time. We tried teaching her back when the screaming started that there is an appropriate time for it and sometimes it's not ok. As hashyash said, it's more of an inside/outside kind of thing. What really helped was I would scream like she was and go outside to do it to show her where it was appropriate. I would continue screaming and as I was coming inside bring my voice down a few octives. Sometimes I would even whisper and she thought it was a lot of fun to try and whisper or "tell secrets" in each others ears. I think a lot of it too is what kind of a reaction they are getting out of you when they do scream. I'm sure it's something he will eventually grow out of. I wouldn't worry too much about whether it's a hurt scream or not. You'll know if he's in any kind of pain. Just hang in there!

Thanks for the replies :) I guess it's a normal thing that most kids go through. It just bothers me when some people give me that irritated, judgmental look like I'm a bad parent because my son screams.

If he's throwing a tantrum, tears are usually involved too. It's impossible to tell the difference between his screams by sound alone. I never know if he' s hurt.

I tried whispering to him when he screams and telling him to use his indoor voice. It worked a couple of times but now he just screams back like it's a game.

I think he finds it funny when he sees people getting irritated with him. I try to ignore him but I can't control how the other people in this house react. Maybe that has something to do with it. This is a very noisy house. Someone's always yelling at the dog or talking loudly to be heard over noise.

Squirting water in his face? That's hilarious! We used to do that to my cat to get her to stay out of my house plants. :) I don't think it would work on my son, though. My husband has sprayed him with water just joking around. He would probably like it ant think it's another game.

I'm hoping that he gets through this screaming phase soon. We're about to bring a new baby into the house. I think it would be a good idea to invest in some ear plugs! They should really start making kids with mute buttons. ;)

Hi!

don't be embarrassed : )

He is learning everything about his voice and it is fun! Please don't pop him or spray him with water or scream back...He is a baby....