Screaming baby

svasbt

svasbt

Registered User
Hi there!
My one-year-old recently found out that he could really make sharp loud noises, borderline between sqealing and screaming. At first he did in once or twice a day, as if he was testing it. Then he did it when he was happy, which we found quite pleasant though too loud. Since then he has moved on and now does it when he's unhappy too, say - has the remote control taken away from him or something like that. He sounds like a spolied brat, and it drives me nuts. I tried telling him nicely that he should not do it, telling him off in a reprimanding voice, and even ignoring him, but nothing seems to work. I honestly hate this. What should I do?
Thanks so much.
 
My 11 month old is also starting to throw fits like this. I think it's related to sleep deprivation as we are no longer on a nap schedule.

Is your son getting good sleep?

Also - to the Mamas of older kids out there - is there a book about discipline that worked for you?
 
Books about discipline

I can recommend 2, although they contradict each other:

1) Toddler Taming by Dr. Christopher Green

He's an Irish doctor, gives no-nonsense parctical advice, but some of his suggestions may strike people as "old fashioned". I liked quite a lot of it, and he has some info. from longitudinal studies to help you understand that it's not just your 15 months old child who runs around non-stop, doesn't listen, climbs like a monkey, etc. but that 97% (or some other reassuringly large number) of the babies do that...

2) The Discipline Book - by Dr. William Sears
A California doctor, can be "guilt indusing", especially for mothers, but I liked his suggestions about "benching" and when to ignore small stuff and be more serious about other stuff. Has some practical alternatives to spanking.

3) My mom, my sistsers, my mother-in-law, my friends, different online boards.

******
For behavior I didn't like - I would sometimes put them on a chair telling them to stay there for 30-45 seconds and TURN MY BACK on them to show my displaeasure. Did it help? I don't know... a bit... also got them trained for more serious "time-out" times later. But I didn't really start to do that until they were about 18 months old - maybe 2 years?
 
ozmaofoz:

My son still sleeps very well. He sleeps straight from 7 to 6:30, gets up for a less-than-10-minute change of diaper and a glass of milk, and then goes straight back to bed, mostly until 9:30. Then a nap from 12 to 1. Another nap from 3:30 to 4:45. He's very diciplined when it comes to sleeping and eating pattern. I can't ask for a better child. Just this screaming thng that is bothering me so much. I try to turn my back on him, hoping that he would give up, but he never does. I always give up and go to help to either talk to him nicely or reprimand him. It never works though.

Thank-you very much for the books recommended on the disciplining subject. I'll try to get them soon.
 
svasbt

My son started doing this too at about 8 months, but I noticed there was (usually) a reason behind this:

a) he's done a poo and if we can't smell it, he'll be telling us!

b) he's bored and this yelling/screaming/screeching is his way of telling us that - I find if I move him to a new room (e.g. living room to bedroom) or distract him before the screaming annoys me, it works for both of us

c) he's happy but he wants someone to carry him, which I think is equivalent to being bored, i.e. wants to see something new.

The good news is that as time passes on and he's finding out about other sounds, the screaming decreases significantly, and is replaced by lots of babbling.

I'm sure yours will too....
 
My almost 2 yr-old has begun screaming lately because it seems like a fun thing to do and also annoys me !! But I find that ignoring it completely (it's very hard I know) helps..it takes time but helps. Reacting to it just makes him scream all the more.
 
winnie and scr:

Thanks so much for your help. My husband and I agreed that we would just ignore him, and hopefully, as he grows older and discovers new sounds, he will stop this screeching sound.

Thanks so much.
 
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