happy screaming - advice needed

LittleFish1

There is a new(ish) 1 year old at LOs daycare who's happy screaming is wearing off on LO. Noticed LO doing it right after another one year old did it at a playdate last week. LO will either scream, or will pretend that her baby or someone else is screaming. She also points & immitates other children when they cry when we are out, so know that the screaming is more of imitating rather than being caused by an area of concern. The thing is, her happy screams are really hurting my ears and make me very tense.

Have tried ignoring the screaming, redirecting her, quietlly talking to her, reminding her that we are able to use our words, and also walking out of the room when she does it. Doesn't seem to have an impact. Am at the point of emailing the pedi because my head hurts from it.

Any one been through this & have helpful advice?

kjsmith9

DD screams when we get into places where she knows she will hear an echo.  Or while running down the hallway.  Or while riding in her car seat.  

If we're out in public, I just tell her we use our inside voices, and then I ignore it or try to redirect with something more fun.  She's just looking for our reaction.

I'm willing to bet the pediatrician would just tell you to wait it out... 

Litgirl77

Same as PP for the most part - and he especially likes to scream when he can hear his voice echo.

If we're out, it's usually because he's getting bored or frustrated about something, so I just redirect his attention and try not to react too much. If it's at home, I say, "No yelling." At the dinner table we respond by whispering to him, and he'll usually copy that instead. If he continues yelling, he gets a short time out (or his chair gets turned around if we're eating - it's just easier than taking him out to do a time out.)

He's starting to understand that yelling is just going to result in his being removed from the fun, or that we're not going to react to it. But it's slow progress - I definitely think this is just another phase and it will pass in time.

Now, if only I could do something about the frustrated screaming/tantruming/etc. That would be AWESOME...

SingleMom31

Our pedi's advice for tantrums, yelling, etc. is to ignore her while she's doing it. Most of the time, she's trying to get a reaction and if she doesn't get one, she'll try something else (which generally doesn't include yelling... granted, I don't always like the subsequent activities either).