Screaming 15 months old?

Question

I have a 15 months old little boy, who will scream at the top of his lungs for NO reason, its driving everyone in our house crazy. He isn't hurt, hungry, need changing, doesn't seem to need anything. he just starts screaming. we want him to stop, we have told him now, held hands over his mouth, tried to make him sit down, put him in his crib, closing the door, etc.

i just don't know what to do anymore. any help you can give me would be great and i will give 10 points to the best answer..

Answer 1

I've learned with my 23 month old that when he acts like that, he wants attention, and hes aiming for the negative kind.  Anyway, i repeatedly remind him to use his words and i point out that i cant understand him if he is not using words, i only understand words. and i'll read him a book or give him some attention. And if that isnt working, i very calmy explain to him why i'm putting him in time-out and then seat him or put him in his room and explain to him he'll get out when hes not screaming. He picked up on that rather quickly because he doesnt much like time out.

Answer 2

"we want him to stop, we have told him now, held hands over his mouth, tried to make him sit down, put him in his crib, closing the door, etc. "

Great parenting methods...really....I always try to smother my daughter when she is screaming.

You need to try to distract him.  When my daughter went through that faze, we would whisper to her to get her attention.  She realized that in order to hear us, she would have to stop screaming.  We also would hold our finger to our mouth and say whisper whisper whisper.

Teach him a *code* word in a game...we taught our daughter Freeze when she is doing something we don't want her to do.

Experiment with different ways of distracting, obviously your ways aren't working.

Answer 3

Well, to me it sounds like it COULD be more than just a behavioral thing... are you sure a food or whole milk isn't bothering him.  My son would do that sometimes if he had a belly ache... But, you know your baby, so if you really think it's behavioral then you're probably right.  There were times when my son was about a year and a halve old and I had to put him in his crib when he did that.  And as hard as it is... DON'T GO AND GET HIM UNTIL HE STOPS SCREAMING/CRYING.  With my son it only took maybe 10 minutes; sometimes a lot longer though.  He would come back downstairs like a different baby!  Sometimes he would come down before taking a nap too.  Sometimes you just have to do it so you don't get too angry or stressed.  Whenever I punish my son; the punishment is never over until he stops crying/screaming and calms down.  I wish you the best of luck and I do understand what you're going through.  I hope this has helped!  Try and hang in there!

Answer 4

sounds like it might be teeth to me.

try a little bonjela on his gums.  

or a bit of baby panadol, and see if that works

Otherwise, maybe take him to the dr for a full check up, head to toe.  

Maybe he has an ear infection?  they sometimes scream from that.

Answer 5

Could he be in pain? He might have more teeth coming in. But you don't need to be putting him in his crib by himself because he is crying....he's doing it for a reason. He doesn't know how else to express him self.  

Answer 6

I don't think there is quite enough info. to say what  the problem could be.  Does he do this at the same time each day and for how long.  Maybe he has some type of pain in his belly or maybe his ears hurt. Maybe he is teething. I just know one thing for SURE!  He is hurting somewhere or he wouldn't be doing that I don't think.  I'd check with your pediatrician.  I know that can be so trying, just try to reassure him that he's okay. Hold him tight and love on him!

Answer 7

My guess is that he's doing it for attention. "Hey, cool! I scream like this and everyone comes running. This is great fun!" If you are positive there is nothing wrong (I assume you can tell), then try quietly saying "When you scream, it hurts my ears. I don't like it." and leave the room (assuming he is somewhere he will be safe). Try not to react at all as I imagine that is part of what he finds exciting.

As soon as he is quiet, come back to him. Hug him. Read a book with him or something he finds fun.  Give him praise when he stops or is not screaming, as in "I love it when you use a nice quiet voice." Let him see in your face how much fun it is to be with him when he is quiet.

You might also just try talking quietly to him so that he will have to be quiet to hear what you are saying. I've had that work with some kids in the past.  It will take time to make him quit, but eventually he will see that screaming's not much fun at all.  

Answer 8

it's generally a stage - right before they start talking and realise that they can express themselves.

It's really annoying but he is just trying to communicate.

Try to encourage 'inside voice' and 'outside voice' and lots of conversation so you can help to express things for him.  He will grow out of it - so try not to show how pissed off it makes you because he'll keep using that as a weapon later on!

i hope your ears survive!

Answer 9

This is something that needs to be brought to the attention of your child's doctor.

While some of it may be normal behavior, it's important to rule out any other issues.

It may be something as simple as he just enjoys the sound of his own voice and will grow out of the stage. If that is the case, get some earplugs and just ignore him. He may be doing it just to get the reaction from those around him.

He also may have some sensory issues and it helps him to regulate his body if he screams.

Like I said earlier, he needs to see his doctor and find out why he is screaming.

Good Luck, and get some earplugs!!