Son Has Started Squealing.

Welcome to the terrible 2's. It is his way of expressing himself. I try to ignore my daughter when she does it or tell her I only understand when she speaks to me. Good luck!

Hello, B.

Welcome to the beginning of the "terrible two's!!! :o)
You will find it may get worse before it gets better. There is not a lot you can do except to try to distract him from the behavior with a toy or food (he can't squeal if he is eating/drinking). I can speak on this because I have a 20 month old granddaughter who does the same thing. Most of the time she's a happy go-lucky toddler, but she can have some of the most ear-splitting, foot-stomping, hand waving tantrums on the planet. It does get better, though. Be patient and hang in there.

I feel your pain! :) It can be a phase if you treat it right. When my son would squeal because he was happy, I'd start whispering and speaking to him in a very happy but quiet voice. Toddlers love to immitate, so more often than not, he'll quieten down to match your voice. When he was angry, I'd give him a huge hug, say, "I love you," and put him in his crib until he calmed down. I would put him in the crib sitting or standing, leave the light on, leave the door open, and turn on some music - anything to make it different from bedtime/naptime. I would go ahead and tell him that I'd come get him when he calmed down. (It's amazing how much toddlers understand!) As long as he wasn't screaming - even if he was still crying - I'd go back and get him, but I usually left him for at least a minute or two so he'd get the picture. He's 21 months now, and looking back I think it took two or three weeks to pass through the phase with these tricks. He still screams occasionally, but it's very rare - and therefore much more tolerable! Hope that helps!

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haha i know that sound its normal. nothing you can do.. why discipline if hes happy?

Hi, relax. It's just a phase. I know because I have been there. When no one was around I just ignored it but when it became public issue I would pinch his cheeks together while he was screeming, not hard to hurt him but to make him aware of what he was doing. then I would tell him to shhhh. I did this every time and he finally got the point and eventually quit.

Brittney, I have found that they come up with new noises and do them almost constantly for a week or so then move on to the next one. Right now we are in the very wet raspberry/spitting stage. I would be afraid of disiplining him for making new sounds at an age when he is exerimenting and learning to talk. They seem to perform more when they have an audience or gain attention from the behavior. Maybe just riding it out and not reacting to him when he does this is the answer.
Good Luck,
Val

You can always bribe --- such as he won't get a toy or snack if he makes that noise.

My older son (11 years old) goes to therapy. When the therapist noticed my 15 month old (at the time, he's now 2) squealing and he suggested ignoring the screams. After a few days of ignorning my yonger son's squealing and screaming, it stopped.

I took the therapists advice only becasue I new my screaming son wasn't in pain or agony. I agreed that his actions were only to get attention.

Stop it now or it will only get worse. I know this only because I have an older son.

This may seem cinical, but its real.

It is just a phase,he will eventually grow out of it. He must of heard hisself do it before and liked it ! lol
Do you say NO when he does it? Say it loud ,or STOP. Or record him and play it for a half hour beside his head, maybe he will get sick of hearing it!! lol just an fyi

My daughter, now six, did the samething. My 21 mth old is still doing it. When they learn something new they wear it out. My daughter has taught him to "spit" with is toung, hard to picture unless you see it. Put you toung between your lips and blow. It cuts the screeming in half. It does get better, I promise.

KP

My 16 month old does the same thing. Is your son talking? My understanding is that they do this as their way of communicating and exploring their voice. The worst part is that my 2 1/2 year old loves to join in like a choir! Hang in there. The more words he learns the less he will scream. Work as much as you can on vocabulary- particularly if he is screaming for something, but also when he's not. Good luck and be patient. And I agree with the Mom who said not to discipline over this - he is learning and exploring not misbehaving. You do not want to stifle his speach and end up in speech therapy because he was afraid to make sounds. Good luck.

Oh, sister, I KNOW what you mean. My now 2 year old daughter was an absolute SCREAMER from 18 months til 24 months. It waned over the course of about a month, and now, although still mercurial, she understands "inside voice." We used a combination of "inside voice" talk, requiring everyone in the family to speak softly in the house, and time outs. It took time, but it worked. Our only other trick was to avoid car trips, restaurants, church, public in general. She got sent to her room many a night if she couldn't control herself during dinner, where the screaming would escalate into a full-fledged violent tantrum. She got no audience until she calmed down, which took WAY more than her "minute per year of age." Probably not what the books say to do, but at least we were all in a better frame of mind for her absence! Now she is almost 26 months old and I am considering attempting a family-friendly restaurant again...hang in there.

Please don't view this as "bad behavior" that deserves discipline and please don't let others make you feel that way. Often what we feel is bad behavior is perfectly normal and appropriate for that age. And yes, squealing is a perfect example. It can be disruptive, nerve racking, and strangers in the restaurant may give you looks. But we're talking about an 18 month old here, not a 10 year old.
At this age, it's not about discipline so much as it is about redirection. I can't say it enough. Redirection, redirection. Turn his attention to something else. He's way too young to understand anything else. You'll be using redirection and repetition (saying "gentle touches only" or "we eat food, we don't play with food" about 1,000 times a day).

Best wishes to you and enjoy every nerve racking moment these toddler years are getting ready to bring you! They're a hoot :)

He found a new cool thing he can do with his voice! He probably thinks it's the coolest new thing since breastmilk. My daughter is at that stage and I only respond by queitly saying, No screaming please, and that's it. It seems that if I respond to it more than that she tries to do it more to get more reaction from me. She doesn't do it now unless she is super excited about something.

I would make sure first that the squealing isn't from any illness.Then if everything ok there I would try and nip in the bud very soon.
I use to pull over in the car if my daughter started squealing and tell her we will not continue this behaviour while Mom is driving car that it distracts her. I know this sounds like I can't just pull over on the side of the road but I did when i had the opening. When she was inside i would tell her that I can't understand her when she is squealing and if she wanted me to pay attention to her she needed to talk softly. After a week or so it worked.

My Point is if you don't give in to them or let them know right away that this can not continue they will give in. You have to give them a choice if they don't then they don't get what they want,when they want it.
Plus you have to be consistent and see it thru or they will see they can continue on.

I hope this helps and makes sense to you.

First-make sure the squealing isn't health related
Second- Be Mom and stick to your guns.
Third- Make sure Dad follows thru and on the same page when dealing with the squealing.
Fourth- Give them a choice if they don't choose- you do and that's it.
Fifth- Give them Love and Let them know that it ok to squeal but there are limits
Sixth--Same as Fifth but just hug them and Tell Them You Love Them.

Really, the only thing you can do is ignore it and not give him what he wants until he stops squealing. my son did the same thing and i thought i was going to go insane. it lasted a few months, then when he started being able to say more, it stopped. i just constantly kept telling him to say what ever it was he wanted and please, ex. balloon please and that's all i'd say. eventually he did start saying using his words more. many kids, especially boys i've found have done this around this age.
good luck.

Hi B.,
Since your son squeal mostly in private, you should make a game of it by squealing back with your facial expression in a crying motion and shaking your heading at the same time. When you stop squealing, look at him seriously and say No, No! No more. I did this with my grand children when they won't stop crying for no reason. This should be the same concept for squealing. Give me some feedback. Good luck!

My daughter went through this as well when she was 18 months old. I put a small chair in another room and every she would do it I would put her in the chair. That way she could still yell but it wouldn't be around the baby. After a while she wouldn't want to go into the other room to squeal by herself and she stopped.
Hope this helps!

Hi my son went through that. He's really just playing with the sound and that's a good thing. He's exploring. Just grin and bear it for now.

As far as the tantrums, I let my son scream it out and tell him "I do not negotiate with terrorists ... when you are finished pitching yoru fit, you may come and get me" and I calmly leave the room. That's usually enough to get through to him and when I walk away calmly (that's thekey) he gets the hint and stops.

If you respond with yelling or screaming yoruself, you're giving him exactly what he wants. He is exploring cause and effect as well as noises he can make. So the exploring is fine, but the tantrum is not.