Screaming toddler

[rmc28]

For several months now my toddler has been screaming. A lot. Piercingly. I don't feel either I or my husband have a good handle on managing it and the Christmas period with lots of family-visiting has made me very self-conscious about our failure to manage it. It's caused friction with the family, it's awkward for our lodgers, and my social

Comments

[charlottezweb]

Our son went through that also, and I don't have much advice for you, but I can say that it was a stage and he passed through it as his communication skills increased. Now that he's 2.5, he almost never randomly shrieks, so it may stop as your child gets older.

[ailbhe]

Sign language? I'm guessing; neither of mine did the screaming thing, though I've known children who do. He's about the right age for it to be communication frustrations though.

[rmc28]

We have some signing books in the presents package, and I know some signs already. I should probably use them with more consistency.

[squishsplash]

Our bub is also determined. We've worked hard to make him so! And at 16 months, we're also getting some screaming tantrums. The record was around an hour and a half of screeching because he wanted the computer! Not really worth all that screaming to keep him away from the PC, but we had already decided that he wasn't going to get computer time in the morning, and it was important to me to see the battle through once we had picked it. It has taken a few days, but he is less obsessed now.

I found Toddler Taming very re-assuring, not because I ever want to do controlled crying, but because the book explained that it gets easier, not harder, as bub gets older.

Good luck.

[ladyynara]

My daughter was very similar, but it got a whole lot better when she started being able to communicate. I didn't try baby signing with her, but in some ways I wish I had, as it might have curbed it a bit sooner. She's 2.5 now and still screeches, but not nearly like she did at the age of yours.

[tiggsybabes]

My now 3 year old still uses the piercing shriek when she has a bad tantrum, it can make my ears crackle at times.