shrieking, whining, and screaming

[penstamon]

My oh my, DS has a set of lungs on him. Despite his huge vocabulary and great communication skills, the most common noise coming out of him around me is a high pitched shriek, whine, or scream. Over everything! I tell him to use his words and he shrieks, I tell him to be patient, etc and he shrieks, I am doing exactly what he wants and he shrieks. Whether I ignore it or given in, there doesn't seem to be any change.

I just found out that he NEVER does this when he is being watched by others and is actually very articulate and good-natured. Sure, I understand that mom bears the brunt of these bad behaviors, but my ears are ringing- literally. At 15.5mo he has at least 60+ words but tends to shriek at me instead. Only when he is calm does he bother to communicate well. It is frustrating because it is impossible to keep him calm at all times. I need earplugs...

[April Dawn]

It is rough. I don't really have much advice, because I think it's just a stage they have to go through. My 17 month old has only about 10 words and they aren't very useful for actually telling me what he needs (they are basically mama, dada, car, and a few animal sounds... so unless he needs to tell me he saw a car or a dog, his words don't really help him communicate yet ). So there is a lot of shrieking, and also thrashing and hitting, when he gets frustrated about something. The only thing we have had some luck with is a few basic baby signs; he can tell me "milk," "more," and "all done" and sometimes that can stop a fit. Maybe that would help your toddler. Other than that... well, just remember that this too shall pass, and toddlers definitely have their charming moments, too!

[red and lulu]

My dd is the same! 15.5 months, with a very big vocabulary, and reportedly doesn't act like this for others when I'm not around. So frustrating! She can be quite clear about what she wants and needs, but still just screams at me constantly. I actually posted about this yesterday-- wondering whether it's an age thing or something I'm doing. Guess it is an age thing....

[gracemamma]

15.5 months here too and same issues (though nothing like that vocabulary-wow!) She screams alot for me and her dad. Took her to a WBV today where everyone commented on how well behaved she was after she had been screaming at home this morning. I keep thinking its not getting enough sleep as well as teething as well as that's just how this period is. The APish Dr. said that having a discipline plan would help- she bought it up. She suggested teaching the word help so the toddler can ask for help instead of screaming when she can't get what she wants. She also suggested not picking her up for screams but telling her she has to not scream to be picked up- not sure how that one will work out. She talked about various ways of reinforcing the behavior, or not- I think sometimes we are unknowingly reinforcing it. My husband can walk around holding her for 30 minutes where she exclaims, yells and points and then gets frustrated about picking up certain objects but I think maybe she doesnt know what she wants in the first place. Someone on here recommended the book Your One Year Old 12-24 months by Louise Bates Ames and I got it. i find it reassuring about this stuff, as well. We also use some signs (though wish we had tons more) and this helps. Thanks so much for posting because I am finding this so frustrating and exasperating too and am glad to find I'm not alone. Good luck to everyone on this!