My 2 year old loves to scream simply to hear himself. How do I get him to stop?

Question

Telling him no, and be quiet really aren't doing the job, and I don't want to spank him for it.

I don't want to spank him for it because that is all I would be doing, and it loses its threat if you do it all the time. I try saving spanking for the big stuff, but I totally agree that if the parent is comfortable with it then they should spank.

Answer 1

U have to use reverse psychology on him. I have 8 kids and 16 grands and a few were the same as ur kid. They thought it was funny to scare the living day lights out of me or catch me off guard with their screaming so u know what I did I learned to act their age and when I could I would catch them completely off their guard and scream at the top of my lung scaring the hell out of them too. They got the hint sooner or later and thought I was crazy but it worked believe me beats beating or spanking them for little things. i agree with u. But it isn't abuse teaching them what they r doing is wrong by applying their same tactics toward them.

Answer 2

Ahhh the joys of 2 yr olds! It's normal..he's discovering his voice. Telling him no, spanking & telling him to be quiet never worked for us either. What we have done is explained to my girls that screaming is only for outside. SO if they get into a screaming mood, I bundle them up if need be & take them outside. I tell them they have 10 minutes to get allt heir screams out because screams belong outside. They love it. As soon as we walk outside even on the way to the store they ask 'Mama can I scream'. When they have 2 minutes left of the 10 I tell them "2 minutes get all of those screams out' then they get one last big loud scream jsut before walking inside. If they scream on the inside of the house they get put in time out & told that htereis a time for screams & it's not inside. It just reminds them. . I know what you mean though about them just wanting to hear themselves do it.

Answer 3

I had that problem when I was a daycare teacher for 2 and 3 year olds, I would start screaming the same time they did but in a low manner, not at the top of my lungs, sometimes they'd laugh and stop, other times they will look at you strangely and they'll stop because you distracted them.2yr olds are just learning for the first time all about who they are, it's the egotistical age.It'll soon pass, but this should help a little, sometimes also if you start talking to them in a calm voice and show them something with a lot of color or distraction to it they'll stop.They are so easy to distract at that age.

Answer 4

your normal 2 yr old may be slightly hard of hearing,get him checked out, there is a way to help him to stop take him outside to the woods let him scream himself to sleep, obviously dont leave him alone, or try the vacuam cleaner switch on when he starts to scream (they cannot compete with it) he will get the message or you can sit him in the car seat shut the door and stand outside of the car, again dont leave him unattended, or you can wait for a lull in the screaming take up the challenge and see if you can out scream him, this may have the effect of turning the contest into a play situation, do not put him a room alone,do not chastise by smacking, children are eperiential learners,they learn by doing,if he is clean dry and fed and there is no other contributing factor then he his pushing his boundaries what he can get you to do/react,he screams you comfort,he screams you attend him,thats why the car works ,he can see you but the scream cannot affect you,he will not like the idea of screaming alone,however he may associate the car with punishment,it depends on his reaction to it,ignoring him works if there is nothing wrong with him but how do you know unless you check,this is thier fallback positionyou have to be aware of his routine,when he screams at what time,just before make sure he is clean ect. then before he starts put him in the car seat ,this will ensure he will think, trip, stand outside with the doors closed ,dont do this on a hot day, and leave him alone, dont go to him when he starts just look at him through the glass, break his routine get him on to
yours. regards LF

Answer 5

What i would do is ignore him until he stops and then tell him will you stop screaming for the week and if you do you will get a reward it's a great way for parents and children to communicate better because your child would be use to the fact that if he does something good something good would happen to him.

Answer 6

I have 4 children one of which is 2 and she loves to scream to but.... they scream mostly to get attention. What worked for me was to give them that attention. For example Oh wow! That was really loud good job now lets see how softly you can be. If your response isn't angry and you keep your voice low usually they will lower theirs to. However sometimes they need to scream and when this occurs I take my daughter by the hand, walk her to her room and let her scream, I tell her "when you are through you may come out" and then walk out and shut the door. They need to let their emotions out just like you so let them but you don't have to listen in full volume .

Answer 7

I don't know why so many parents are so enthusiastic about hitting their child over something so small. Kids scream, they make noise, it's a NORMAL developmental phase. It's similar to finding out what happens when they push a button. He's doing it just to see what will happen, to experiment. I say best to say something like "lets keep our voices down" and then go on with your day. The worst thing you can do is give him a ton of attention for it because he'll just keep doing it. If he screams for a while and no one ever reacts, he'll probably find something else to do.

If you want to be a spanker, fine, do it. But don't spank your kid for something that's NOT WRONG.

Answer 8

I'm guessing he is yelling because he didn't get his way. Ask him "If you yell, will that fix anything? Do you think if you yell that I will give you what you want? If you ask like a big boy, you can have it." Reward him for controlling his temper and he will see there is no need to scream.


But, if he is just screaming for the heck of it - he needs an outlet. Play outside more - kickball, football, something physical and very fun.

Answer 9

Is it a happy scream or a "I want to be difficult and whiney" scream? My daughter (almost 2) screams a lot when she's playing around the house...it's a really high-pitched squeal. Yeah, it hurts my ears, but she's doing it because she's happy, so I let her squeal!!

Answer 10

he is not doing it to hear himself that's for sure, most likely he is either not getting enough attention or you are over reacting and he has learned that screaming gets a reaction and because baby's crave attention AND they don't know the difference between good (singing reading touching) or bad attention (stern verbal commands/spanking) the baby will do what ever works to get that attention ALSO baby's DON"T KNOW that screaming drives us parents crazy they ONLY KNOW how to scream and that doing gets attention the thing they crave most other than food and a fresh diaper.

parents MUST understand that infants don't KNOW anything at all about ANYTHING, they don't understand ANYTHING they have no ability to reason. they instinctively go potty and eat the rest must be learned through cause and effect for the first couple years, you cant teach them through verbal instruction to stand or walk but they figure it out anyhow you cant teach them the meaning of the words they say once they figure out how to form those words yet they know who is Da Da and Ma Ma long before they know what those words mean.

So NEVER spank a baby Don't pacify them unless its necessary and DO love them talk to them read to them sing to them play with them massage them they may not understand what you say or sing but they do LOVE THE ATTENTION!!!.

Good luck Tom AL USA