XP: The screeching ....

MrsBreezer80

My son is 22 months, just shy of his 2nd birthday. He doesn't have a whole lot of language, but enough to get him by. Since he was about 10 months old he's been screeching - high pitched screams. At first it was to get attention, now it's all the time, out of the blue, all day off & on. He thinks it's funny & giggles when we get upset. We've tried ignoring it, we've tried time outs, we've tried a stern "No screaming", we've tried leaning down and whispering "Shhhh" ... absolutely nothing works. This is a kid who thinks "discipline" is funny - time outs, scolding, etc - he quite literally laughs in your face. We are at a total loss. My BFFs son is mildly autistic and can't even be around us anymore because he is so bothered by it. I am getting extreme migranes from it, and his sister just yells at him every time he does it. We are even beginning to lose babysitters (family and paid) over it. Please, please someone help me!!!!

pitterpatter129

It comes with being 2.  You can try completely ignoring it.  If he is/was doing to get attention, then it might stop if he gets no attention, even opposite - you should leave the room.  We have a baby gate on DS1's doorway and sometimes if his behavior is something like that which we have no control whatsoever of, we will put him in his room, so he can screech all he wants while playing in there. We tell him he's not in trouble, we just need a quiet room, so he can stay in there until he can be quiet and can come out whenever he asks. Mine actually did this at the grocery store yesterday - the shrieking.  I finally told him if he didn't quit I was going to walk away for awhile and I walked about 6 feet down the aisle.  He got the message and quit.  ETA:  Have you tried practicing whispering too?  Mine thinks whispering is almost as fun as yelling.  If I start whispering, he'll do it too.

 

 

mommytoconnor

OMG I could have written this post a year ago.  My son would do this and it is at a Mariah Carey level unlike any I have ever heard.  It did stop, but it took a long time.  I tried everything and nothing worked, timeouts made it worse.  I would leave the room and it finally seemed to work. I do think it is a bit of a stage though, he seemed to outgrow it more than anything.  Good luck.