Nearly 11 months and still screeching!

[SamJTony]

I’m about to have a nervous breakdown.

My son has been screaming and screeching since he was about 5 or 6 months old. He does it every day, sometimes more than others but enough to push me to the brink of a nervous breakdown. I lose my mind when he does it, it is so loud and shrill it makes my ears ring constantly and I feel like I want to throw myself out of the window. I’ve screamed back at him a few times to try and shock him but doesn’t make any difference, just makes me feel worse. I know all babies go through this stage but with him it just seems to be going on and on and on. He babbles and chats too which I love but it’s getting to the point where I feel I can’t take him out in public as he does all the time and I get so many filthy looks from people who clearly think l should be able to shut him up! Please help before I totally lose my marbles. Will this ever end?

Oh I'm so sorry!
What has his doctor said about this?

The health visitor hasn’t said anything about it apart from the odd comment, oh isn’t he vocal? I think she thinks it’s just the way he is but I’ve never heard a baby make so much noise. It’s happy screeching but it’s unbearable.

My dd is 11mo and does this either (1) at home when she wants more attention/thinks she's being ignored or (2) out when she wants to get strangers attention (I'm too boring apparently ) she's generally happy as anything just wants more notice!

When she does it goes through me far more than any other sounds she makes - love her baby babble. I just try to talk to her more so she focuses on me and try to give her bottle. If I'm out I try to stop in noisy cafes etc so she blends in w background noise and try not to stop too long in v quiet places but she's a baby and there's not much I can do about it until she has a better way to communicate (and with ds who is 2 he now never stops commentating his life these days!) It's hard though when people are looking at you and you feel judged but it's natural and if your baby is happy that's the main thing.

Oh I remember when my eldest was a little older than your little one is now, thinking that actually she seemed to get gradually louder and louder as she got older, until she was really talking. I would say her peak volume was at about 18 months ... After that it was just chat chat chat though she started to be able to stay quiet when necessary by about 5 or so.

She's actually turned into a fabulous singer though.

I'm not sure if I have any useful suggestions. Do try putting a range of music on when you can, give him something interesting / complex to listen to, see if that makes any difference?