Baby likes to scream
Our baby girl is just over 7 months old. She likes to scream. Occasionally it is from anger (we took a toy away) but most of the time she seems perfectly happy, maybe a little bored, and then out of nowhere, she screams at the top of her lungs. Sometimes she does it repeatedly until she starts getting a little red in the face. Other times, it's sporadic.
We have tried not to overreact, tried to distract her with a different toy, patting her mouth so it makes that powwow sound (takes the sting out of the scream), and just not give in to what she wants (but most of the time she doesn't seem to want anything in particular). But we have become afraid to take her out in public. Saying Shhhh or a firm No and shaking my head doesn't seem to do anything.
Is this something she just outgrows? How have you dealt with it?
4 Answers
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We have a screamer too. Ours started at about 9 months and even though he's outgrown the screaming (at age 2 now), he's still the loudest of our 3 kids. Andrea's advice is great. We taught ours to use his 'inside voice' inside and outside voice outside. His inside voice is still louder than it should be, and I don't think he'll ever be the quiet wallflower type. But at least we have boundaries, and he understands the boundaries. I have to tell you though, our 14-hour flight when he was 15 months nearly killed me - and all the passengers sitting in our cabin!
There were 3 things I did when I needed to stop the screaming right away - like on the plane or in a library - I'd put my finger on his tongue and press down. He'd stop screaming, pull his head away, and keep his mouth closed. Or blow in his face - it stimulates a reflex to breath in, and he can't scream when he's inhaling. Or I'd pinch his nose - it would change the timber of his voice and make him giggle.
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Our son went through a phase when he liked to scream. Especially in places that echo ;) He was clearly having fun hearing the sound of his own voice. He was probably a few months older than your daughter.
The way we handled it:
- said "if you're going to scream, you need to scream outside", and left the restaurant, our home, wherever immediately.
- found a remote spot, if possible, and said "okay, get your screams out"
- started asking him before we went inside anywhere if he needed to "get some screams out"
It got to a point at home where he would not be screaming but suddenly say "outside" and run to the door, we'd open it, and he'd run to the end of our walk and holler all on his own.
We did all this, and at the very least it saved us (and others) from some interior reverberations, at the very most it was a way to feel like we were actively doing something while the phase simply passed. It seems like your daughter will certainly outgrow it, as I've never met an older kid who feel the need to scream so readily and randomly, but when?
Open to better suggestions!
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We had high pitched shrieking out of no really good reason at about 5 month to six, then a brief break, and then again at about 8... The best way for us to get her to stop it was to blow in her face immediately after she started shrieking. Quickly, briefly, and then pretended like nothing unusual had happened. Of course, there was later some experimentation, where shrieking would happen only once we were out of blowing reach, but at that point it became more distractable.
Can you give this a try? See if she's surprised enough to stop?
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Our 5 month old also screams when she is happy...we haven't found a solution for it either but I just wanted to thank you for asking the question, because now I know it's normal!
Thank you for all the answers! I have tried blowing in her face when I'm close enough and it does stop her in midscream (though doesn't yet seem to discourage more attempts). :)
Here's a follow-up question... inside/outside voice has worked well for my son now 3 but does anyone remember at what age they can start understanding this concept? I feel like she would have no idea what we're saying. Do you think she can control her screaming impulses?
- sweethi, Jun 29, 2010