Screaming Child

Hi J.,
Does he also get ear infections or fluid build up in his ears with colds? My son was a recreational screamer when he was that age. He had frequent ear infections and/or fluid and we discovered that he needed to get PE tubes in his ears.
The first time he started to scream after the tubes, he scared himself silly and it pretty much stopped.
If you've ruled that out, you could try locking eyeballs with him and giving him a firm 'No'.
Hope this helps

I know I'm suggesting the impossible, but can you ignore it? I have found that (sometimes) when my 18 month old son realizes that I don't care one bit about the behavior I do not want him to be doing, he'll stop. I ignore it and don't give him the audience he is craving. Yelling at him is a form of 'attention' and I learned that he, like many other children, will do whatever it takes to get mom's attention - even if my attention is negative.

They really do grow out of it!! My daughter was 16 months old when she started testing the decibals of screaming. I told her if she felt the need to scream she needed to go to the door and scream out the door rather than inside. So that's what she did. She called me a couple of days ago and lo and behold, it continues through her daughter who is just 14 months old! We could hardly talk for all the screaming. LOL. I told her to have the baby scream out the door. It's less stress on the ears and nerves. With my daughter is lasted about 4 months. Then she found other things to test out. It really is fun to watch them grow, learn and experiment even though at times we are pushed to the limit. Just enjoy them while they are small. They truly are a blessing from God.
mddhf

Keep in mind that when behavior is reinforced either negatively or positively, it continues. Maybe you can try to ignore the screeching when your children do it. It may be hard be remember to breathe. Good luck!

The 2 yr old is old enough to put in time out, which might work, but she is going to want to squeel when the baby squeels. THe 16 month old, you can put your finger to his lips and say "no". Also, don't over react. If they squeel and you are busy cooking or whatever, maybe just ignore it. The 16 month old might just be doing it b/c it is one thing he can do that big sis will copy.

This must be common because I have the same situation with my 3.5 year old and 17 month old. They love to scream at each other and then chase each other through the house. They both started a screaming contest during a 45 minute drive last week, I actually had to pull the car over and get out because it was making me crazy! This is what I did for our car trips: I put fruit bars (Nutri-grain or similar) on the center console where they can both see them from the car seats. My children LOVE fruit bars. Then if they can make it 15 min into the trip without screaming I break off a piece for each of them. I keep this up to and from our destination. We have a 45 min drive 3 days a week. So, this is a big deal for us. We also instituted a house rule of screaming only in one room. For us it is the playroom. They can scream in there as much as they want and I don't correct. But, they also both know that if they scream in the rest of the house then they will be punished. There is a time and place for everything. I also allow them to scream as much as they want to outside (they love this rule!) We had trouble with spitting also so now they can spit and yell as much as they want OUTSIDE. Good Luck!

You absolutely can discipline it! They need to learn the difference between inside and outside voices. Explain to them that if they squeal/scream inside that there is a consequence, and then stick to it. Help them realize the difference between inside and outside voices. It will take some time, but eventually they'll get it. In the meantime...get some earplugs ;)

Hello J.. It sounds like your two little ones might be feeding off of each other. One squeels, so the other one does, then they get into a compitition to see who is the loudest. I think they are both old enough to discipline before you loose your hearing or mind; if you haven't already LOL. I would put them in seperate rooms or in seperate parts of the house, sternly tell them that it is not okay, then Go Outside!! When you start this new routine, they are more likely than not to continue to scream. When I go outside, I make sure to slam the door loud enough for them to hear it. When they realize no one is around to hear them, my girls stop the racket. Then I have to Quietly sneak back in, b.c once they hear my re-entry they start screaming again. Hope that helps.

Hi J.! I have a loud house, too! I have 3 1/2 yr-old boy/girl twins, and almost-10 big sis either helps or hurts my situation b/c of her tween stage (sometimes a kid, sometimes a lady.)

Try this, don't know if it works: whisper. That way they have to quiet down in order to hear you.

I often tell them to take their loudness upstairs (or wherever I'm not!), explaining that their noise hurts my ears and head (they know Mommy gets migraines.) I think this teaches them that I love them, just not their noise, and if they want my company they must not get too crazy.

But kids are kids and I will miss these days all too soon!

Earplugs may help, seriously. (I just bought a secondhand tool-bench toy w/ lots of play tools, and now I'm thinking WHAT HAVE I DONE????)

K., OH

I agree with Mi R that a good solution might be to ignore the screaming. At that age ignoring a behavior is a more effective way to stop it than anything else. However, I know that might be impossible for you to do. If you can get Melanie to stop having screaming contests with her younger brother, that would also help. Your son's screaming is being reinforced when his older sister does the same thing. Maybe you could try separating them when they start having a screaming contest. It might be easier to get your daughter involved in something else than your son. However, when your son sees that his sister is also ignoring his screaming and isn't doing it with him, then he might stop. I'm not sure what else you could do right now. I know it must be a hard thing to deal with. Screaming gets on my nerves quicker than anything else! Even if you choose to ignore the behavior, you will still hear it. I wish you luck with it.

You know, I think that I sat at the table next to yours at a restaurant last night! LOL, just kidding. Thankfully, my kids never did this, but our friend's son did. It was awful! His parents would try their darndest to make him stop, getting up and walking him around places. Finally I just said to him, "David that's enough!" with a very stern look and voice. He quit. He never did it again when we were around. The cajoling and distraction his parents gave him was the attention that he wanted. I gave stern disapproval, and that did the trick. Since you are around him all the time, that may not work for you, but try having grandma or another adult scoold him. Make sure they are serious and stern. It may shock or scare him, but it may make him realize that its not funny and people don't like it. Good luck, if nothing else works, he will eventually outgrow it.