Son screaming

[Passthebrownsauce]

Hi! Would someone please tell me if this behaviour is a cause for concern or just a phase. My son, who is 3 and a half, screams at people if they start to speak to him! I mean proper shrilling, red in the face! Nothing I say to him makes any difference and I feel so embarrassed for the people who are just trying to engage with him..... any ideas? Thank you

Is it only people he doesn't know or does he do it to your friends and family that he knows too?

If you're concerned maybe speak to your local Health Visiting service and see what they say. Rmemever even at that age they're still figuring things out and can't always be reasoned with, even though they will understand what you're saying.

Could it be that it's his way of getting your attention because he knows it works and you will be there to mediate the situation? How does it normally play out, does he stop after a while? Or was there a certain event that triggered it or something like that?

Our nearly 3yr old DD did this if people try to talk to each other in her presence. She got one warning, and then put in another room with the door shut for 2mins. Worked pretty quickly.

He can do it with people he knows or strangers. Can't think of an event that could have triggered it. If the person stops talking to him he will stop... but there have been several times when the person continued to engage with him in the hope that he would find what they were saying funny, but my son would scream even louder going red in the face!
He doesn't scream every single time... he can say hello or smile at a person, and then can scream at them the next time he sees them! He always used to say hello to people or wave!

Is that the only unusual behaviour trait? It does seem a bit strange but if there's no other red flags about his development then it's probably just a phase. What do you do/say to him after? Can he verbalise what the issue is? How's his speech?

What do you do when he does it? What's the consequence?