I am curious to know how moms would respond to this. The other day we were at the grocery store and the clerk made a comment on how cute my 2 1/2 year old son was. She was talking to him nicely and he sat in the cart and smiled and then screamed in her face. I apologized to her and then as we were leaving the store I told him that was not acceptable behavior, how "we" do not scream at people etc. Well, I don't think he got it because it happened again today while we were out and its been happening more frequently. I am hoping this is a phase, but am looking for any advice how to handle this. Thanks
Umm, Donna ??? No one here at home screams
Thanks everyone else!
Its a phase and her age.
Still.
Is she verbal?
teach her HOW to 'say' things instead of screaming it.
But yes, kids this age do not have fully-developed impulse control yet, either.
So it will be repetitious.
Hi, Anniston:
Look at your home environment. Who is he copying? D.
Just keep doing what you did. I do think it's a phase.
I don't remember which one of my girls did that, but lordy it was a headache. I would get anxiety attacks before going to the store, always wondering 'what will happen THIS time?!'... Leaving him at home will not correct the problem. Correct the behavior as soon as it happens, replace the negative behavior with a positive one (here, hold mommy's shopping list! oh you're doing a GREAT job! would you like banana's or oranges? Good choice!!... etc)... Eventually he'll get it. As I always say, persistance is key. Keep him busy 'helping' and that may be enough to curb the negative behavior. Always always verbally praise positive behavior... in the meantime, good luck :)
I agree that is pry just a phase my toddler use to burst into tears everytime someone talked to him. now he gives this shy little flirtatious smile
We're going through the "shreaking phase" too. It's um... lovely.
The only thing that we have found that usually works is to tell him when it is okay to scream for fun (in our house, in the car, outside, etc). He'll ask now if it's okay to "scream" if we're out!
We had that with one of mine after he "found" his voice and realized it was coming from him. I think he was about 1 1/2, but he was doing it because of the reaction he got. He was promptly removed from whatever store/restaurant/ place we were at and placed in time out for several minutes. He stopped after a few weeks and hasn't done it since, but I feel your pain:). It is so embarrassing - hopefully it stops quickly for you:)
Be firm and offer a brief explanation, they won''t hear it all. Keep doing what you are doing. Annoying, I know!
Dr. Sears has tons of great advice for this kind of stuff:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/6/T060100.asp
