His grunting is driving me nuts! Can I make him stop?

Question

My 7 month old son loves to grunt/growl. It is an awful sound that grates on my husband's and my nerves beyond belief. He is starting to do it constantly, but especially if he wants something.

It's not tummy related and I'm so tired of people in public saying "oh! are you making poopy?!" He's not. That's a very distinct other kind of grunting.

I don't want to reinforce this awful noise by always giving him what he wants to make it stop, but I also don't want to be mean or withhold something either. And believe me, if it is a stand off with me waiting until he stops grunting to pass the cheerios, he is going to win. That kid has some serious determination! Sometimes if he doesn't get what he wants by growling it will turn into a temper tantrum. He cries and turns a bluish purple.

Mind you, I always try to meet his needs BEFORE he becomes demanding. But is there a way to curb this impatience and make this noise go away??!!

Answer 1

well your the mother and older and your son must learn to behave being or not being in public, you shouldn't give him what he wants because your making it worst, and i know it can just make the noise escalate but you need to let him know whats right and wrong. Also he's using the noise against you. You should try to ignore him like put music on or something, if it doesn't work distract him with somehting.  I can't say much i mean if i were to be mean I'll say slap the S**t out of him but i don't know if your that type of parent lol... and even though that's bad it works at times.

Answer 2

he may realize he is a getting a reaction with the grunting and is communicating with the grunts. Don't react when he grunts or he will continue. They all throw tantrums  and it is hard, try to ignore the tantrums also a couple of times and see if it makes a difference. some people swear by "let the baby cry" and he will learn to calm himself down. but it is difficult at first

Answer 3

You ARE reinforcing this noise when you say that he wins when it comes to a stand off.  Think of a whining puppy.  Give him a stern no, and don't give him what he wants.  Make sure his needs are met and that he is not hurt, but don't give in.  It will keep happening until you quit giving in, or until he learns how to talk.

Answer 4

Take him to a pediatrician and see what the doc. says to do!

Answer 5

He's learning how to use his vocal cords.  He doesn't know how to communicate with you any other way, he grunting to get the cheerios because that's how he knows to try and tell you what he wants.  It's very normal for children to make these noises.  You'll miss the grunts when he learns how to scream and that's all he will do for months.  It's normal and it will pass, you really can't make him stop or make it go away

Answer 6

Each kid is different. Patience is the only factor that is a certainty here. Use patience and find a way to communicate to him that there are better ways of communicating than grunting.

Model for him the way you want him to act.

Answer 7

My son was the same- always grunting. It did get on my nerves sometimes so I understand how you feel.

But, the grunting stopped all by itself, without my husband or I having to do anything.

Its just a phase he is going through.

Not much you can do about it, other than think to yourself, it will pass.

in the mean time, encourage his other behaviours- like when he makes babbling sounds etc. He'll soon want to do more of those sounds than the grunting.  

Answer 8

laugh at him,and tell him that he'll lose his voice.

Answer 9

It sounds like his grunting is his way of expressing something to you, like his way of saying that he wants something.  It's a great sign of language development, actually.  He knows that if he wants something he has to verbally communicate it to you, and grunting is better than crying.  

As he gets older he'll (hopefully) start to reach for something he wants and use different sounds.  For now there are a couple of things you can try, but there aren't any guarantees.  When he grunts you could try making a different sound that you want him to use instead.  He grunts for cheerios and you can "correct" him by using your other sound, like "ahh" or "om", or "eh" or something like that.  If you repeat it when he is grunting (don't try to overpower him, just let him hear it) he might start to realize that he should make that sound instead.

You could also try teaching him some basic signs.  Even just "more", "food", "milk" and "water" can help lessen some of the frustration.  

Answer 10

It's a stage that will soon pass,babies grow and change quickly...so be patient and maybe try getting some ear plugs or a I-pod to soften the sound a bit.

Other than that perhaps could try making cooing or more pleasant sounds back to him when he does that to encourage that he mimicks you.

You are his example of "communication" and he is modeling you, try talking to him more.

When he "grunts" for something..sweetly tell him the name for it and smile. Show him with a positive reaction that your pleased when he attempts to make a more pleasant sound.

Honestly the hostility that you ( and his father) express towards your own child causes me a bit of a concern.

Perhaps you need to educate yourself more about the developmental stages of your child,

When it comes to "speech" and verbal communication.

Here are some basic facts:

Around two to seven months, babies like to entertain themselves by producing new sounds and repeating them. At around six months of age, babies begin to make sounds with their mouths partially closed. These sounds are called consonants and the first consonants that most babies add to their cooing are /k/, /p/, /m/, and /b/. Soon after, when your baby is better at controlling his or her vocal apparatus to repeat sounds, he or she may begin to put vowels and consonant sounds together and repeat them over and over again. This is called babbling.

Around the ninth to twelfth month, your baby’s babbling will include many more sounds. When these sounds are strung together into phrases and sentences they are called jargoning. At around twelve months of age, most children can move their articulators in a meaningful way to say real-sounding words. Even though by eighteen months, most children can use meaningful speech, many cannot say all the sounds of their language correctly. By approximately thirty months of age, your child should be able to produce all the vowel sounds correctly. However, for many children the ability to say all consonant sounds develops more slowly.

Maybe you two need a break from him once and awhile, either make arrangements for a family member to babysit for even an hour or so a day or something that will give you some silent space.

Peace

This is your child, maybe you need to be a bit more compassionate

Answer 11

It may Sound Weird, But Start Talking Much Louder To Your Husband Around Him. He Will Have To Cry If He Wants Something. Like A Normal Baby.

Answer 12

He has learned that the grunting gets him what he wants and it gets a reaction out of you.  Yiu have to understand though that is his way of communicating with you when he has no words.  Try reenforcing the words eat, water, baba.  My son was grunting too, I would ask him, "do you want a baba?"  He would grunt.  I would tell him I don't know what that means.  Then I would ask again and say yes, then hand him the baba, say no and take it away.  Now when he wants it, I ask do you want a baba and he says ya.  He hasn't learned no yet, but he pushes it away and no more grunting!

Answer 13

I understand - I have a 6 month old.

I asked the doc.  

At this age it is best to let them cry (grunt) a bit and no longer try to meet their needs BEFORE they get demanding.  So, if you can tolerate it, it's likely that he'll learn to self-sooth quickly by you waiting until his temper-tantrum is over to pick him up.  

Give him a good distraction to break him out of the tantrum or grunting... but don't pick him up until he stops.  Been there, done that.  He may just be overly tired, too.    

I know it is hard, but it is easier to do this now - when he's older he can scream louder and grunt longer!    

Answer 14

There is no behavior modification for a 7 month old! He can't communicate to you any other way, you should be glad he has learned to begin communicating and when you find what he wants say what it is so when he starts talking in the next year he will use words.

Everything children do is a phase, just love him for everything he does.

Answer 15

haha just think of somethin or tske him to thi doctors!!

dat sounds ANNOYING!!!!

Answer 16

as much as I wish there was a magic solutions...there is not.  our son did something equally as annoying and when we asked a family friend and speech specialist, she told us in no uncertain terms it is very necessary for speech development.  our child is now 23 mos and the noise has almost completely stopped...very rare that he does it at all.  

Answer 17

Hes 7 months, give him a break!

He can't talk, so that's how he does it.

If he wants something he can't have, try distracting him with a different toy.

Answer 18

he obviously knows you dont like it and uses it to his advantage

to get what he wants

and if you're tired of people saying "oh! are you making poopy?" then tell them to **** off

oh yeah I need more thumbs down because everyone else's answer is way better