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Original poster

to be tearing my hair out over DD's continual shrieking??

21 replies

superv1xen · 22/04/2010 16:00

dd (11 months) has started doing this HIDEOUS shrieking noise.

it isnt crying or upsetness, or hunger, it just seems like she is bored and enjoys making the noise. and she seems to do it whenever i don't want her to, ie, on a bus full of people, or in a quiet shop, or having coffee with friends.

aaaargghhh it drives me mad. she did it none stop for an hour and a half yesterday afternoon (although we were at home) and when DP came home i was almost in tears with frustration and exhaustion.

i could honestly scream at her to shutup when she does it but could never do that to a baby

does/has anyone elses DC ever done this? my DS (3) never did it, he was a quiet baby. and what did you do? is there anything i could try? i have tried the obvious like giving her snakcs / a bottle / something to play with. but she just throws them, as if she knows i am trying to shut her up and would rather screech than play or eat.

am at my wits end.

OP posts:
Original poster
superv1xen · 22/04/2010 16:01

snacks* i mean! typing fast!

OP posts:
mountainmonkey · 22/04/2010 16:08

My ds is 7 months and goes through phases of doing this too. I find it quite amusing -he looks so pleased with himself! I generally try to shut him up by talking to him or doing something to make him laugh.

Original poster
superv1xen · 22/04/2010 16:15

dd doesnt look pleased with herself though, she looks mardy-arsed.

so this makes me think that she does it for a reason, but i just dont know WHAT reason, as, as i said, it isnt hunger, upset, or full nappy.

she was doing it in sainsburys the other night and DP took her out the trolley and carried her and she stopped so i dont know if its an attention thing?

but obviously i cant do that when i am out and about on my own with her! and i dont want her to think she can get her own way by doing it either.

OP posts:
Dollytwat · 22/04/2010 16:23

my DS1 is 8 now, he still shrieks like a girl and it drives me crazy

Original poster
superv1xen · 22/04/2010 16:43

bloody hell dolly it would me too

OP posts:
BorisTheBold · 22/04/2010 16:50

My two dds (5 and 3) shriek all the time. It tends not to bother me anymore, I think I've reached the "tuning out" stage now but I often see looks of delight wincing from others in the supermarket or park when they decide to communicate with each other in this bloody annoying special way.

The bad news is that they both started practising this talent at around 10-11 months....

Dollytwat · 22/04/2010 16:57

I do the same Boris, I'm imune for the first 5 mins, sometimes I find he's actually hurt himself.

Not often though

It's usually just shrieking

Sorry Super, you may be enduring enjoying these lovely sounds for a while

Original poster
superv1xen · 22/04/2010 17:02

boris...OMG

if she does that, i will be in a mental institute by the time she is 2!!!!

my son was SOOOOOOO quiet......i was spoilt with him. my DP reckons its a girl thing, apparently they are more demanding.

i was just trying to give her her tea, and she had a few mouthfuls, then seemed to have had enough, then she went MENTAL screeching when i stopped giving it her...so i tried again and then she wouldn't take it, but then she was screeching coz she wasn't having it!!! aaarggghh

i have put her in her cot now coz i was literaly tearing my hair out, all is quiet now, i think she has gone sleep...

OP posts:
TulipsInTheSunshine · 22/04/2010 17:04

join in.... they get a kick out of it for 10 seconds and then get bored.

relieves some of your own frustration too

Morloth · 22/04/2010 17:27

I have a friend whose DD screams at random intervals, she is almost 3, it used to freak me out but now I barely notice.

Her nickname is Shrieker.

SeasideLil · 22/04/2010 19:44

Unfortunately I know what you mean, my dd2 is/was a shrieker. She was almost silent as a baby til about six months (little crying, sleeping through night), then the shrieking started. And it wasn't the odd loud cry, it was a proper blood-curdling out of a horror movie scream. She just loved the thrill of the noise, the reactions, everyone looked at her, so she carried on, when upset, when tired, when excited and so on. We really did despair at times and tried all kinds of behavioural tricks, from ignoring to distraction and so on. She once screamed so loudly in a busy cafe in the zoo that there was complete silence followed by the sound of dropping crockery. Time sorted it out, it just got less as she learnt to talk (encourage talking for this reason!). Now she does it about once a week, if less, although it is still blood-curdling in a way that my other daughter's shrieks are not, and makes me worry people will call social services...

JosieZ · 22/04/2010 19:51

My son was easy and daughters more demanding but fortunately I had the girls first!

Maybe you need to give her more attention and excitement eg at meal times loud, exaggerated voice and actions - Ooooo, here's a lovely, biiiiiig spoon of YUMSIWUMSY dindins, mmmmmmmmmm, yum, yum yum. Goooooood girl.

And take stuff with you to distract her on journeys etc

Worth a try?

(did you guess I've been watching reruns of House of Tiny Tearaways?)

omaoma · 22/04/2010 20:02

dd is 15mo and likes shrieking. oh and shouting 'AA! AA! AA!'. LOUDLY. not for an hour and a half mind, but it's pretty embarrassing in public. think you're right it's at least partly an attention thing. have noticed if i engage her in 'conversation', showing her someting and talking about it, it sometimes shuts her up. i wonder if it's that she wants to talk and is just generally a LOUD child who doesn't really hear herself (i was endlessly told to BE QUIET as a child for that very reason, so it's clearly karma).

i have caught myself talking to her in quite a high, harsh 'baby' voice and wondered whether maybe she thought that was how one talked to get attention??? i'm trying to alter my tone to a bit lower and quieter...

meep · 22/04/2010 20:52

ha ha - my dh thinks it is a boys thing! Dd2 is a shrieker - it is definitely for attention (she has to compete with her big sister). Dh is convinced it is because she has been the only girl in a room full of boys at nursey. I think she just like to yell.

It has calmed down a bit now - the more mobile she is the more she can get to me to get attention. When she was less mobile the shrieking was relentless!

superv1xen tip for meal times - give your dd a spoon and her own bowl with something like dry cereal/lots of peas in it (something you don't mind her throwing) - you will get a good 5-10mins while she puts the peas/cereal in and out the bowl - and she may even eat some! You can then get some more spoonfuls in and she won't even notice!

Original poster
superv1xen · 22/04/2010 21:41

thanks for the advice!

i am glad to hear she is not the only one but also sorry to hear that others have had to deal with this HELL!

thats a good idea, meep, re mealtimes. she is dreadful at meal times as well, has about 5 mouthfuls and then gets fed up and starts messing around, but then gets frustrated as she isnt eating - DUH??!!! (think thats gona be another thread anyway!)

thing is, i dont want to encourage her to do it by giving her attention (or anything) when she does it, but its just so horrible. and awful when people start looking, i just want to scream at them - IT IS NOT MY FAULT!!!

OP posts:
Firawla · 22/04/2010 22:12

mine did it too, starting about 11 months but it didn't last that long he grew out of it so hopefully yours will too, it is very annoying i remember really used to get on my nerves. he only did it for a few months though

MadamDeathstare · 23/04/2010 02:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChippingIn · 23/04/2010 04:26

It's a horrible bloody noise isn't it!!

When she is doing this, how does she respond if you:

a) Walk out of the room
b) Stay in the room but completely ignore her
c) Say 'NO' very firmly & a bit growly (it doesn't have to be loud)
d) Drop something loud (like a pan lid)
e) Pick her up and put her in a different room

(I appreciate it's difficult to test some of these out in public places )

mathanxiety · 23/04/2010 05:03

And I thought months of tooth-grinding noises was bad.

I agree with ChippingIn about a quiet and firm response with no drama.

And maybe get a musical instrument for noise-making?

MrsMellowdrummer · 23/04/2010 07:58

Both my children did similar around that age, and it was a definite phase that they grew out of. Hope that is a cheering thought!

They did it (I think), just for the sheer joy of making new noises. I used to tell people they were "experimenting with pitch and volume", which actually made it sound imnpressive.

MrsMellowdrummer · 23/04/2010 07:59

Less impressive that I can't spell! (oops)

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