Screaming 4 Month Old

I have one of those screamers, too! As long as she isn't crying, I say just accept it... :) She's practicing her sounds, and expressing her feelings!

My son is 8 months old now, and has been hooting and hollering since 12 weeks. Not even consistent babbling, but boy do we know when he's got something to say! He can even hold one of those pteradactyl cries for almost 20 seconds without taking a breath. Maybe he'll be an opera singer one day?

Your daughter sounds so adorable- try hollering back at her!

She may be putting things toward her mouth as a reaction, not as a cause of the screeching. If you ask me, it sounds a bit like reflux. Try mylicon before each feeding (my daughters gastro specialist said 10X a day is a very safe dosing level) and dont let her lie flat, see if anything changes. If you do notice an improvment talk to the doc, reflux is a severely painful thing (think inferno taco nite heartburn...) and it can damage and cause sleep loss. If you think it is not right, you PROBABLY are right, listen to your gut. You are her motehr and you KNOW her and what is normal. Trust yourself.

my daughter started the screeching noise at that age as well, and still does it at months! it's so funny when trying to shop and strangers stare at us. i actually want to tell our neighbors (we just moved to amherst so they don't know us) that we're not hurting her, and she's just communicating with the world. she's truly trying to find her voice:)

Jody,
You hit the nail on the head. Terradactyl is absolutely correct. She'll enjoy his voice in other ways soon, too. Enjoy/tape it while you can - it will change!

Good luck,
M.

Ugh, I remember that! My son started screeching so loud at 6 months that I would have to leave the grocery store if he really got going. He's now 7 months and the screeching is way down, but he still occasionally does it when he's really tired or bored. I definitely think it was the finding his voice thing for us, but I also wondered if there was something else wrong because it is SO LOUD! I ended up wearing ear plugs at home for the first week he was doing it because I literally thought I was losing my hearing. If she's not crying while screaming, I bet she'll just lose interest in screaming soon unless you make a big reaction to it. Good luck!

Hi Jody
I laughed out loud when I read your post because my daughter started the exact same thing around that time - she's still doing it now almost 4 months later. It's like I'm sitting around waiting for the windows to crack. Also, my dogs head for the FARTHEST place from her in order to spare their ears.
All I can say is, invest in some ear plugs-haha. My daughter still does it every day (but now its also mixed with some da-da la-la stuff) and this morning I woke up to her singing it at about 530.
My best friend laughs all the time because she does it the entire time I am on the phone as well - and she suggested we tape it.
Good luck and stock up on some excedrin for yourself
A.

Jody, this is all normal, she has found her voice. Remember all kids are different and try not to compare your daughters. Trust me I know it is hard, I have 5 and am always looking at their differences and similarities. My 2 youngest are a combination of their older sister and brothers, which is kind of cool. I now look at it in a positive way, for example, Jeffrey was a cuddlier when at the same age as Derek is now, this is so cool, he is just like Jeffrey. Then I will see something that reminds me of my daughter, and so on. One story I love to share is when my now 12 year old was a year old and went through a screaming stage whenever we went out, he would yell "I want the Cock, COCKIEEEEEEEEEEEE are you?" He couldn't say Becky so he called her Cockie or or The Cock. Trust me people would look at us like we were awful parents allowing our son to say things like that. LOL Now we just bust his chops about it and can't wait until he gets married so that I can toast to that story. LOL Bottom line, as long as you don't expect the same thing of each child, as they are each their own person, you will be fine. Hope this helps and put a smile on your face.
Hugs,
T.