Screeching for Fun!?

ALL girls do it. It's fun! she'll get over it and stop soon enough but I don't really know of a way to make her stop until she's ready. Do remind her not to do it, but that's really all you can do! This too shall pass!

sorry...i don't have an answer...just glad to know i'm not alone in this sometimes embarrassing situation. good luck to us all!

My daughter and niece are 4 months apart. When they were going through this (lets just say dinner out with all of us was FUN) my sister-in-law (an amazing preschool teacher) taught the girls the word soft. When they would screen, we would softly say, "soft" and they would mimic. It's worked really well and is now done with, "inside voices". Just talking softly to young kids does wonders to catch their attention and redirecting. I personally find it easier to tell kids what they can do, rather then what they can't.
Best of luck,
C.

Our son was about the same age when he started doing this. We have a zero tolerance policy for things like this, so we'd threaten to leave wherever we were (if it was Walmart or Target it was different than if we were in a nice restaurant - in which case we'd pick him up and walk outside immediately).

We finally set a rule that there were 2 places he could scream - the bathtub and outside. Initially, it was a stern "No screaming" and then either the warning to go leave or actually going outside.

I can't tell you the number of times we'd be leaving Target, and he'd start screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm amazed we never had the police corner us as we were leaving.

But, Marda is correct. Other people certainly don't want to hear our children screaming, and at least making the effort to quiet them shows those affected that you're being a good parent.

I give my son to the count of 3 to stop screaming. If he doesn't stop, he goes to time out. He knows that he has an indoor voice and an outdoor voice and that he needs to use those voices in the appropriate places. Once he knew that screaming could end him up with undesirable consequences, he shaped up pretty quickly. I like the other suggestions of removing your child from the public place when she screams and/or placing her in her room and having her stay there until she's ready to use her indoor voice. When my son is in his whiny mode, that technique works really well. He comes out of his room and tells me "happy" to let me know he's done whining.

mine does this too. I ignore it at home but in public give him a firm NO. he usually stops if he didn't I would have to remove him and if more than one parent is around he has to sit in the car by himself with the parent outside the car so we don't have to listen to it and he would get the point. if in public with just one parent it is time to go home. mine does this for hours and eventually I can't ignore it any more and have to say no over him he will try again with the same no usually he will loose interest at this point.

Updated

mine does this too. I ignore it at home but in public give him a firm NO. he usually stops if he didn't I would have to remove him and if more than one parent is around he has to sit in the car by himself with the parent outside the car so we don't have to listen to it and he would get the point. if in public with just one parent it is time to go home. mine does this for hours and eventually I can't ignore it any more and have to say no over him he will try again with the same no usually he will loose interest at this point.

She not only likes the attention but she also likes the sound of her voice. This is a new thing to her. I suggest that there be an immediate consequence. For example once that first screech is out, tell her that you do not want to hear her and take her to her room and shut the door. Tell her she may screech as long as she wants and to come out when she's ready to stop. You could even tell her that you know it's fun but it's not OK to screech when other people are around. Do this in a calm, matter of fact voice. Then leave. If she screeches when she comes out take her back to her room. Do this every time.

When she's not screeching tell her that her screeching hurts your ears and that this is what you're going to do.

When this happens in public, take her outside. Other people definitely do not want to hear the screeches. Tell her this hurts everyone's ears and you cannot let her do this. Take her back in when she quiets. Repeat as often as needed. She will learn. It just takes some time. And.....her screeching won't last as long as it would if you didn't enforce a consequence.

If you have a safe place for her to be outside far enough away from neighbors, you can tell her to screech outside.