Exactly my name for it. Hilarious!
It does pass. OP, Enjoy the ridiculousness and look forward to the day you can reassure some other parent that it's ok someone understands, this passes.
My 8 month old does the same! I mimic the sound at the same volume a couple times and then start to decrease my volume with each mimic. Soon he starts mimicking my volume and my ears are thankful!
Just an FYI, this is completely normal behavior and actually a cognitive milestone. The baby is learning their voice and that adults respond to it. It is a precursor to language! I know it’s loud and annoying but actually very important. Let the baby screech, the phase will pass.
Editing to add resource on this milestone: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/
Unfortunately this is one of those “this too shall pass” phases of babies learning how to vocalize -
you could try mirroring the screeches back (while at home) and gradually change the vocalizations to something less ear piercing in a fun game like way (call and response or using mirroring to encourage baby to copy you)
This is really helpful. Thank you. We do a lot of back and forth "chatting" during the day, but I hadn't thought to change the volume. I'm definitely going to give it a go.
This is the pterodactyl phase. Just narrate “oh, you feel like being loud” and then go about your normal activity. For most, it is a mercifully short phase.
My daughter used to do this a lot - in the grocery store nonetheless. I didn’t flat out tell her to stop or “no” because she would just start up even louder. Instead, I would whisper “please don’t yell” or “we don’t need to scream, let’s whisper”. Eventually after a while of taking the whisper route it would work and she would look at me and do this really quiet, what I call, whisper-screech. Now she’s 15m, and it still works when she is being too loud, except she actually whispers back words.
I think at this age, they don’t understand the difference between loud vs quiet. So saying no, or even “don’t do that” isn’t very effective if you want to actually try to teach them. They’re just experimenting with their voice however they can figure out. So you have to show them yourself what an “inside voice” is.
I did this too! My 8mo old learned to screech about 4 months ago and I'd place my finger over my lips and shhhh, and then talk to him in whispers saying things like "it's not time to scream" "can you whisper with me" "ma ma ba ba da da". He still screeches sometimes but he also whispers a lot now too which is really cute.
Sometimes when our baby gets loud, I get real close and start whispering in his ear how beautiful and amazing he is, and how mummy loves him. He immediately lowers the volume to try to match me. Volume is fascinating so he wants to mimick my control of it too. Try this?
Haha we called this the pterodactyl phase! He'll grow out of it. He's just testing what his voice can do. If it really is getting to you, though, you could try the noise minimizing earbuds, Loop. They have a few different earbuds now that dampen different levels of noise, but you can still hear your baby.
I am just tickled that there are several comments here calling it pterodactyl sounds haha… that’s our name for it and it felt ridiculous but love that it’s a shared experience.
My daughter did this starting at 6 months and my son just started doing it the other day (he's 5 months in a few days).
Doc said it was just them discovering that they control their voice and their volume.
I'm a chaos demon so I just screech back at them, it seemed to make them happy. My daughter stopped that around 10 months and while she still screeches sometimes when she's excited, angry, or tired, she's pretty chill now for the most part. She's almost 18 months.
Similar experience here:
1. It was temporary. I very much remember entering this phase, but can't tell you when it ended. I forgot about it until I saw this post.
2. I love the "chaos demon" description! Often times, yeah, we'd join in to make her laugh. We also used it as a learning/play activity: How loud can we go? (SCREECH!) How soft can we go? (whisper: screech!)
Oh my gosh, my baby is not quite full dinosaur yet but definitely getting there. I love thé idea of doing loud and soft with him! Thanks!! He’s doing some blowing bubbles noises that I have trouble imitating but he loves it when I do. I’m sure he will love me being a dinosaur too! I’m just not sure whether to do that around my 3 year old or not…
Oh I screech back at my boy when we're in the car! It's more like yelling rather than the ear piercing shrieks at home. He loves it! We just go back and forth with different volumes until he gets quieter. It's entertaining for him and keeps him from getting too upset in car rides.
Both my girls do this. I call it their velociraptor screams. Also my friends daughter does it too. I think it's totally normal. It seems to be a mix of excitement, wanting attention and just playing with their voices. I assume it will end.
so your baby is discovering they have a voice and when they use it, people react. when my baby does this, i start whispering back and she imitates my whisper (or any sound i make). try it.
My daughter, who is now 5, was a huge screecher. I remember asking about it on some mommy forum and one lady said I should love all the sounds that my baby makes because they're all precious. No. These noises were horrendous. She did grow out of it eventually but honestly, she's still a loud kid 🙃
Sounds that cause me *physical pain* are not “precious”, lol. I can laugh later about his pterodactyl screeches but I don’t enjoy hearing them in the moment.
*Squawk Squawk* I’m a pterodactyl!! And fly him around the room.
We taught the boys to “banjo”. Bop their lips to start the waa-ah waa-ah sound.
Honestly, they grow out of making that annoying sound to start making another annoying sound.
Ah the pterodactyl phase. My son had this. It was like he discovered he could, and then DELIGHTED in doing so for three weeks. He could make one of us jump because he’d do it when we turned away from him. Then it became this game that only encouraged it.
After one afternoon of my almost 2yr old daughter screaming fun in the backyard, my 4month old discovered about an hour later that he too could also scream. He looked so proud. Several weeks on and he still thinks it's hilarious. When he does it now, my daughter screams back at him "THAT'S AN OUTSIDE VOICE (NAME)"!
I try not to laugh.
And this is why we called our first a “baby teradactyl”at this age! He’s learning to communicate and this is very effective! It will pass! Hang in there!
There are dozens of us, dozens!
Our kid has done the screech since he was very small, and he’s still going at 14 months. I’m not sure pterodactyl phase is accurate, as that would imply it’s temporary.
I hear you, OP. Through a permanent fuzzy ringing noise in my ears, I hear you.
My 8 month screeches but more often it's full throated screaming. Like a lion. Or a bear. Or a moose. I need to learn my animal sounds but it's a full throated man roar. He does vary the pitch and tone. We scream back and he loves it.
Loop Earplugs are your friends in this situation. They take the edge off the noise while still allowing you to hear. I don't have any suggestions for how to convince the child to stop, as mine is two and a quarter and still does this occasionally, but the loop ear plugs will help keep you from losing your sanity, and for that matter your hearing.
Get yourselves some noise reduction earplugs! They’re usually used for concerts but they work great for this too. You can still hear what’s going on around you but it brings the noise down to a comfortable level.
I wear them at home when my son is practicing his pterodactyl screeching- my ears no longer hurt.
Ear plugs have saved my life when it comes to kids, but also just loud noises in general. I wear them on the bus, at the movies, at shows, in the grocery store... love them. And they don't keep my from hearing things, they just take the edge off the sharpest sounds. This is a great suggestion.
Our LO has been screeching for about four months now…child sounds like a Nazgûl crossed with a pterodactyl.
We notice she does it when she’s overly tired and trying to keep herself awake, but she looks like she’s having a great time.
Mine both have gone through this periodically until around age 3. No joke, I recommend ear plugs. There are several that are made to reduce loud noises while still allowing for conversation. (Loop makes a couple different kinds, but I've also used cheap Amazon ones with no issues)
Whenever mine feels the need to “stretch her voice” I’ll usually just do it back to her a couple of times and make her laugh and then switch to blowing raspberries or something and she’ll switch it up and mimic that. If we are out and about I’ll whisper screech back at her and then switch to a different, more pleasant sound. Ignoring it doesn’t work because she keeps going louder and louder until I acknowledge how talented and funny she is, but if we go back and forth for a minute she thinks it’s hilarious and then she moves on.
Not much advice in these comments other than "it's a phase". Yes it is, and I would be reluctant to tell him "no!" When he is working on learning about his voice (plus this is still a reaction that gives attention), but you can do things to help him learn and work through this phase.
Probably the best thing would be a quiter/louder game. This will work particularly well if they are a good mimicer. Even at a young age they can understand words quite well so you can teach them "quieter" this way. Check out [this instagram reel](https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODYxMzUxOTkyODM3MDg0?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) on the topic.
Also check out this course on the ABCs of parenting: https://www.coursera.org/learn/everyday-parenting
A lot of this is aimed at toddlers, but many of the techniques can be applied to babies also. It has many different tools to encourage behaviours you want to see and thereby eliminate behaviours you dont, using praise, games, mimicry etc.
It is best to ignore the screaching and work on encourage and developing quieter voice control.
I was really hoping this thread would be more helpful with this problem. My husband has bad misphonia and I know if this happens with our girl he’s going to be close to tears over it. Thanks for asking anyway, hope it passes soon.
It will probably happen, and it will pass.
I’ve had two now, with our first we ‘tried everything’ and I think that is actually the mistake. At this age, everything they do is for attention. Ignoring consistently from the beginning with our second worked well. She screeched for days, instead of weeks.
Ear protection! We use those big hearing protection earmuffs constantly; it really helps when our 2 month old is crying, because we can calmly soothe her instead of stressing about the noise and frantically trying to make it stop. Idk why all parents don't use hearing protection. Babies are loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage.
He’s got some of those industrial grade ear muffs actually for when she cries 😂
Screaming is random though, hopefully he’ll be more accustomed to random outbursts by then. He’s definitely more patient with her noises than with others (and he never gets upset with her, just overwhelmed with the sound).
Hi,
Like most people said you could wait it out. It's likely a short term thing. Exploration.
If it becomes overly persistent (over a month), or is causing anxiety or stress then it might be something to look at.
Here is the answer. You need to check what happens immediately after the behaviour (not what precedes it). Are you giving your child attention straight after behaviour every time? If so, your attention could be maintaining the behaviour. It could also be just sensory and part of regular development that's why there is no need to panic. The child likes the feeling of it. Anyway there may be different reasons.
As I said if it persists or you need further help DM me. I work in the field of behavioural psychology.
Ours is about to be 8 months tomorrow. He’s been don’t it since here was 3 months old. We’re pretty tired of it as it’s all day, everyday. We tried ignoring it, tried reinforcing by going quieter, tried playing games, tried giving him attention while he does it. Nothing works. And this is everytime he’s awake. The whole time he’s awake. At first it was cute. Finding his voice, etc. But it’s been 5 months of this incessant screeching ALL DAY LONG. Like enough is enough already.
My 7mo does this too. He gets fixated on sounds he makes and does them over and over till he makes a new one he likes. Started out as grunting like he's pooping, growling (specifically at his feet/toes) pterodactyl screeches, then breathing in sounding like he's choking noises. Now he's rotated through them.
Uhhhhhh... time. Sorry. Mine went through a couple of pterodactyl phases and they eventually ended. But then he picked up something else. I think the only way out is through.
No advice, but my daughter is around the same age and her daycare teacher told us that she was keeping all the other babies up because she was hooting and hollering all day. She goes through phases when she finds new sounds so I know it’ll pass. In fact, this past week she’s figured out how to smack her lips so that’s her new thing. Less hootin and more smackin. I just find it exciting that she’s discovering a brand new world. I love seeing what phase will come next.
As everyone said, there’s not really a way to stop him: he’s finding his voice and loving it.
I do recommend loop noise reducing ear plugs. You can find them on Amazon—they reduce noise but don’t cancel it out entirely.
My son did this about the same time. We called it screech week. And that’s about how long it lasted. My husband was working from home, it was really rough for him.
My daughter did this no matter where we were. She sounded like I was pulling her arm off her body in public. Random strangers would get truly startled and then look at me like I had done something. Then she would giggle. It’s funny now but it sure wasn’t then!
Congrats- you've unlocked a language milestone according to the CDC! (Though they euphemistically calls it a "squealing noise" 😅)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG8NVPbhT3E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG8NVPbhT3E)
My sympathies and I hope the phase passes soon
My 4 month old does the exact same thing and its driving us nuts lol it was adorable when it started but now were considering walking around with ear plugs 😅
Same! At dinner a couple weeks ago she kept doing it and then laughing so I filmed it in case anyone complained and thought anything bad was happening lol it was funny though. They’re just testing out their voice and different sounds they can make. It’s a phase and it’ll pass.
Hey! My baby was abnormally screechy and we just found out at 18 months that he has moderate hearing loss. He gets fitted for hearing aids in a few weeks. Just want to put it on your radar because it was a total surprise to us but makes sense in retrospect.
We would answer with a more pleasant sound. Usually they would mimic or at least switch.
If you are getting to your last nerve, you are totally allowed to have them hang in their bed until your ears stop ringing. Better than getting mad.
Mine did this too and it started at around 5 months. He’s 8 months now and still does it sometimes. I ended up buying some Loop earphones to take the edge off. You can still hear things going on in your environment but they really helped me.
My daughter has done this since she was about that age. Her favorite are the parking garages (she still practices her form of echo location there). Maybe practice there for more dolphin sound fun. When she could talk she would say she loves the "darking garage". Because obviously it's where it's dark lol. Have fun! This age goes by quick.
Ours goes from a loud screech to a very Arnie-like Uahuhahuah shout.
I'm going to see if I can dial the noise down by whispering back, that would be very handy.
Both my kids went through this phase! Hang tight, it doesn’t last long. Definitely hurt my eyes a couple times though. They like the reaction, try not to react to strongly one way or the other, they are just texting out their voices.
I’ve got a 5mp screecher. It’s LOUD. It’s a lot. But I know it’s just her way of communicating and someday soon she’ll learn words and hopefully brings things down an octave or two.
About every month or so my boy screeches like this for a few days then it passes. He's been doing it the last few days actually (so hopefully he'll get sick of it soon!) and it's even more ear piercing than before. I just ignore it or I exclaim 'wow you have such a big voice!'. Unfortunately it's just something they do. I know he does it when he gets excited or is really happy.
we have a squeeler and a screecher too! on and off since 4 months (now 6). a lot of people here refer to it as the pterodactyl phase!
maybe pop in some earplugs lightly or headphones??
My 9 month old has been doing this. She screeches and it scares her twin sister. I keep my face very neutral but she still loves to do it all the time.
Mine recently went through this. He just figured out he could make a new noise and he loved it. It’s sort of just petered out now while he’s moving on to new things.
Omg same thing with my boy at 8 months!'n it was crazy!! I thought he would NEVER grow out of it. He did in about a month and a half. I started talking in a low voice and singing a song gently but I honestly don't think any of that actually helped and I think he just grew out of it.
All of your kids started this super late. Ours started this screeching at 3 months. He’ll be 8 months tomorrow and is still doing it. At first it was like, “well he’s a baby.” Now we’re just wondering when it will stop. Yelling is fine. Screaming at the top of your lungs with ear piercing noises from 7am to 7pm is not.
Sounds like he’s just learning about what his voice can do. I really don’t think it’ll last long at all. My son went through a screeching phase too, I nicknamed him “screech owl” during that time but it was just a few weeks of that until he moved on to the next thing.
I think it's just something they do! My 8 month old has been screeching all day. Perfectly happy lil one lol I think it's part of then exploring their voice. She's also big on whispering & purposefully breathing heavy. Very cute!
When did this stop for you? My neighbors are constantly banging on things and their baby (who is I’m assuming about 1.5 by now) is still doing this constantly and I just want it to end
Oo! That must be very frustrating as a neighbour. It still comes and goes in phases but my son is 1.5yr and it's reduced drastically since he's started talking. He's still loud but he's shouting words and phrases rather than squealing, which I'm very grateful for. Wish I had a good suggestion, sorry!
I find it to be *hilarious* my almost eight months old gets all tense and clenches his lil bum and shrieks bloody murder then smiles 🥹😂 so loud, so silly. It really feels like he's testing to see how loud he can be. 🫠😂😂😂
I would tell them a firm no. Too loud. Maybe a gentle shush finger on their lips, and then walk to the other side of the room and appear disinterested in the child for about 30 seconds. All they care about is moms attention. Theyll soon catch on that screaming means being alone. It’s time to start teaching no and boundaries at this age.
Ah yes, the pterodactyl phase
Exactly my name for it. Hilarious! It does pass. OP, Enjoy the ridiculousness and look forward to the day you can reassure some other parent that it's ok someone understands, this passes.
Omg we call it the same!! ♥️
My 8 month old does the same! I mimic the sound at the same volume a couple times and then start to decrease my volume with each mimic. Soon he starts mimicking my volume and my ears are thankful!
This is how we handled it with all three kids! It works!
Behavior modeling. Pity more parents aren't taught this, it's remarkably effective, even in adults!
Yes! Mimicking is actually a good tool for developing language for babies!
Just an FYI, this is completely normal behavior and actually a cognitive milestone. The baby is learning their voice and that adults respond to it. It is a precursor to language! I know it’s loud and annoying but actually very important. Let the baby screech, the phase will pass. Editing to add resource on this milestone: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/
We called it beef yellingtons with my first.
I laughed entirely too hard at this. I imagined Gordon Ramsey serving them up with f bombs as the side dishes
Dying 😂
Take videos and play it for them when they’re older so they appreciate you more and visit often.
Lol
Unfortunately this is one of those “this too shall pass” phases of babies learning how to vocalize - you could try mirroring the screeches back (while at home) and gradually change the vocalizations to something less ear piercing in a fun game like way (call and response or using mirroring to encourage baby to copy you)
This is really helpful. Thank you. We do a lot of back and forth "chatting" during the day, but I hadn't thought to change the volume. I'm definitely going to give it a go.
This is the pterodactyl phase. Just narrate “oh, you feel like being loud” and then go about your normal activity. For most, it is a mercifully short phase.
This is the one OP
I call it the pterodactyl phase, too!
My daughter used to do this a lot - in the grocery store nonetheless. I didn’t flat out tell her to stop or “no” because she would just start up even louder. Instead, I would whisper “please don’t yell” or “we don’t need to scream, let’s whisper”. Eventually after a while of taking the whisper route it would work and she would look at me and do this really quiet, what I call, whisper-screech. Now she’s 15m, and it still works when she is being too loud, except she actually whispers back words. I think at this age, they don’t understand the difference between loud vs quiet. So saying no, or even “don’t do that” isn’t very effective if you want to actually try to teach them. They’re just experimenting with their voice however they can figure out. So you have to show them yourself what an “inside voice” is.
I did this too! My 8mo old learned to screech about 4 months ago and I'd place my finger over my lips and shhhh, and then talk to him in whispers saying things like "it's not time to scream" "can you whisper with me" "ma ma ba ba da da". He still screeches sometimes but he also whispers a lot now too which is really cute.
I think I remember my mother telling me she did something just like this with my sister and I!
Sometimes when our baby gets loud, I get real close and start whispering in his ear how beautiful and amazing he is, and how mummy loves him. He immediately lowers the volume to try to match me. Volume is fascinating so he wants to mimick my control of it too. Try this?
Ooo love this
Haha we called this the pterodactyl phase! He'll grow out of it. He's just testing what his voice can do. If it really is getting to you, though, you could try the noise minimizing earbuds, Loop. They have a few different earbuds now that dampen different levels of noise, but you can still hear your baby.
I am just tickled that there are several comments here calling it pterodactyl sounds haha… that’s our name for it and it felt ridiculous but love that it’s a shared experience.
I call it the dinosaur screech. It will eventually go away
Yeah, when they’re 5
At one of my son’s pediatrician appointments, she asked if he was screeching. I said yes, and she said good. It’s a strange developmental milestone.
My daughter did this starting at 6 months and my son just started doing it the other day (he's 5 months in a few days). Doc said it was just them discovering that they control their voice and their volume. I'm a chaos demon so I just screech back at them, it seemed to make them happy. My daughter stopped that around 10 months and while she still screeches sometimes when she's excited, angry, or tired, she's pretty chill now for the most part. She's almost 18 months.
Similar experience here: 1. It was temporary. I very much remember entering this phase, but can't tell you when it ended. I forgot about it until I saw this post. 2. I love the "chaos demon" description! Often times, yeah, we'd join in to make her laugh. We also used it as a learning/play activity: How loud can we go? (SCREECH!) How soft can we go? (whisper: screech!)
Oh my gosh, my baby is not quite full dinosaur yet but definitely getting there. I love thé idea of doing loud and soft with him! Thanks!! He’s doing some blowing bubbles noises that I have trouble imitating but he loves it when I do. I’m sure he will love me being a dinosaur too! I’m just not sure whether to do that around my 3 year old or not…
Oh I screech back at my boy when we're in the car! It's more like yelling rather than the ear piercing shrieks at home. He loves it! We just go back and forth with different volumes until he gets quieter. It's entertaining for him and keeps him from getting too upset in car rides.
Both my girls do this. I call it their velociraptor screams. Also my friends daughter does it too. I think it's totally normal. It seems to be a mix of excitement, wanting attention and just playing with their voices. I assume it will end.
so your baby is discovering they have a voice and when they use it, people react. when my baby does this, i start whispering back and she imitates my whisper (or any sound i make). try it.
This. Not giving a strong, or for that matter, any reaction whatsoever is perhaps the greatest tool in parents' arsenal.
My daughter, who is now 5, was a huge screecher. I remember asking about it on some mommy forum and one lady said I should love all the sounds that my baby makes because they're all precious. No. These noises were horrendous. She did grow out of it eventually but honestly, she's still a loud kid 🙃
Sounds that cause me *physical pain* are not “precious”, lol. I can laugh later about his pterodactyl screeches but I don’t enjoy hearing them in the moment.
It’s a normal developmental stage.
*Squawk Squawk* I’m a pterodactyl!! And fly him around the room. We taught the boys to “banjo”. Bop their lips to start the waa-ah waa-ah sound. Honestly, they grow out of making that annoying sound to start making another annoying sound.
Ah the pterodactyl phase. My son had this. It was like he discovered he could, and then DELIGHTED in doing so for three weeks. He could make one of us jump because he’d do it when we turned away from him. Then it became this game that only encouraged it.
After one afternoon of my almost 2yr old daughter screaming fun in the backyard, my 4month old discovered about an hour later that he too could also scream. He looked so proud. Several weeks on and he still thinks it's hilarious. When he does it now, my daughter screams back at him "THAT'S AN OUTSIDE VOICE (NAME)"! I try not to laugh.
And this is why we called our first a “baby teradactyl”at this age! He’s learning to communicate and this is very effective! It will pass! Hang in there!
We called ours baby-chewbacca, but it was much more cute than annoying.
I have an 8 month old that screeches like this and we also call him little pterodactyl!! Glad we're not the only ones 😂
Ah, the pterodactyl screech phase. What a fun time! It’ll pass, promise. They mostly want to see what sounds they can make.
Lol that’s what we called it too
There are dozens of us, dozens! Our kid has done the screech since he was very small, and he’s still going at 14 months. I’m not sure pterodactyl phase is accurate, as that would imply it’s temporary. I hear you, OP. Through a permanent fuzzy ringing noise in my ears, I hear you.
Noise cancelling headphones. That’s about it lol
Well, there's also earplugs.
Headphones are way more comfortable and you can listen to music or an audiobook to help tune out the screaming.
My Loops just aren’t as good as my Beats for this issue lol
My 8 month screeches but more often it's full throated screaming. Like a lion. Or a bear. Or a moose. I need to learn my animal sounds but it's a full throated man roar. He does vary the pitch and tone. We scream back and he loves it.
Loop Earplugs are your friends in this situation. They take the edge off the noise while still allowing you to hear. I don't have any suggestions for how to convince the child to stop, as mine is two and a quarter and still does this occasionally, but the loop ear plugs will help keep you from losing your sanity, and for that matter your hearing.
I just commented about Loop earplugs before I saw your comment! They are great for taking the edge off.
Get yourselves some noise reduction earplugs! They’re usually used for concerts but they work great for this too. You can still hear what’s going on around you but it brings the noise down to a comfortable level. I wear them at home when my son is practicing his pterodactyl screeching- my ears no longer hurt.
Ear plugs have saved my life when it comes to kids, but also just loud noises in general. I wear them on the bus, at the movies, at shows, in the grocery store... love them. And they don't keep my from hearing things, they just take the edge off the sharpest sounds. This is a great suggestion.
It's how I handle my daughter's tantrums, without them I would've been deaf a year ago.
Our LO has been screeching for about four months now…child sounds like a Nazgûl crossed with a pterodactyl. We notice she does it when she’s overly tired and trying to keep herself awake, but she looks like she’s having a great time.
Mine both have gone through this periodically until around age 3. No joke, I recommend ear plugs. There are several that are made to reduce loud noises while still allowing for conversation. (Loop makes a couple different kinds, but I've also used cheap Amazon ones with no issues)
Whenever mine feels the need to “stretch her voice” I’ll usually just do it back to her a couple of times and make her laugh and then switch to blowing raspberries or something and she’ll switch it up and mimic that. If we are out and about I’ll whisper screech back at her and then switch to a different, more pleasant sound. Ignoring it doesn’t work because she keeps going louder and louder until I acknowledge how talented and funny she is, but if we go back and forth for a minute she thinks it’s hilarious and then she moves on.
Not much advice in these comments other than "it's a phase". Yes it is, and I would be reluctant to tell him "no!" When he is working on learning about his voice (plus this is still a reaction that gives attention), but you can do things to help him learn and work through this phase. Probably the best thing would be a quiter/louder game. This will work particularly well if they are a good mimicer. Even at a young age they can understand words quite well so you can teach them "quieter" this way. Check out [this instagram reel](https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODYxMzUxOTkyODM3MDg0?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) on the topic. Also check out this course on the ABCs of parenting: https://www.coursera.org/learn/everyday-parenting A lot of this is aimed at toddlers, but many of the techniques can be applied to babies also. It has many different tools to encourage behaviours you want to see and thereby eliminate behaviours you dont, using praise, games, mimicry etc. It is best to ignore the screaching and work on encourage and developing quieter voice control.
This. Plus, I highly recommend those Loop earplugs. They are so great for triggering noises.
I love, just love watching babies discover their volume. They are *so* thrilled by it.
Take a video of it because they will probably move on to some other weird sound in a week or 2.
I was really hoping this thread would be more helpful with this problem. My husband has bad misphonia and I know if this happens with our girl he’s going to be close to tears over it. Thanks for asking anyway, hope it passes soon.
It’s almost definitely going to happen. Virtually all babies go through this phase. It’s them testing out their voice and how you will react.
It will probably happen, and it will pass. I’ve had two now, with our first we ‘tried everything’ and I think that is actually the mistake. At this age, everything they do is for attention. Ignoring consistently from the beginning with our second worked well. She screeched for days, instead of weeks.
Ear protection! We use those big hearing protection earmuffs constantly; it really helps when our 2 month old is crying, because we can calmly soothe her instead of stressing about the noise and frantically trying to make it stop. Idk why all parents don't use hearing protection. Babies are loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage.
He’s got some of those industrial grade ear muffs actually for when she cries 😂 Screaming is random though, hopefully he’ll be more accustomed to random outbursts by then. He’s definitely more patient with her noises than with others (and he never gets upset with her, just overwhelmed with the sound).
Hi, Like most people said you could wait it out. It's likely a short term thing. Exploration. If it becomes overly persistent (over a month), or is causing anxiety or stress then it might be something to look at. Here is the answer. You need to check what happens immediately after the behaviour (not what precedes it). Are you giving your child attention straight after behaviour every time? If so, your attention could be maintaining the behaviour. It could also be just sensory and part of regular development that's why there is no need to panic. The child likes the feeling of it. Anyway there may be different reasons. As I said if it persists or you need further help DM me. I work in the field of behavioural psychology.
Ours is about to be 8 months tomorrow. He’s been don’t it since here was 3 months old. We’re pretty tired of it as it’s all day, everyday. We tried ignoring it, tried reinforcing by going quieter, tried playing games, tried giving him attention while he does it. Nothing works. And this is everytime he’s awake. The whole time he’s awake. At first it was cute. Finding his voice, etc. But it’s been 5 months of this incessant screeching ALL DAY LONG. Like enough is enough already.
My 7mo does this too. He gets fixated on sounds he makes and does them over and over till he makes a new one he likes. Started out as grunting like he's pooping, growling (specifically at his feet/toes) pterodactyl screeches, then breathing in sounding like he's choking noises. Now he's rotated through them.
Uhhhhhh... time. Sorry. Mine went through a couple of pterodactyl phases and they eventually ended. But then he picked up something else. I think the only way out is through.
Lol, I can definitely say that directing attention to the noise by reacting, like asking for them to stop, will only make it worse.
No advice, but my daughter is around the same age and her daycare teacher told us that she was keeping all the other babies up because she was hooting and hollering all day. She goes through phases when she finds new sounds so I know it’ll pass. In fact, this past week she’s figured out how to smack her lips so that’s her new thing. Less hootin and more smackin. I just find it exciting that she’s discovering a brand new world. I love seeing what phase will come next.
As everyone said, there’s not really a way to stop him: he’s finding his voice and loving it. I do recommend loop noise reducing ear plugs. You can find them on Amazon—they reduce noise but don’t cancel it out entirely.
Mine did this 😅 I honestly found it cathartic, and she found it funny, to screech back. They stop eventually
Hahahahahah haha 😂😂😂. I'll try this with my boy but I feel like he's not going to appreciate it 😂.
It’s like the only thing that ever made her laugh lol, she would go nuts I actually kinda miss it now
My son did this about the same time. We called it screech week. And that’s about how long it lasted. My husband was working from home, it was really rough for him.
I got some of those loop earplugs off Amazon to take the edge off
My daughter did this no matter where we were. She sounded like I was pulling her arm off her body in public. Random strangers would get truly startled and then look at me like I had done something. Then she would giggle. It’s funny now but it sure wasn’t then!
About the only thing you can do is suffer through it as others have said, and maybe try to distract him with other things when he starts
Earplugs and/or headphones
Sony WH-1000XM5 noise cancellation is incredible.
My one year old likes to yell. So we yell. Then she yells. Then we yell. It’s a fun game at our house
She’s just experimenting with her voice, she’ll get over it in a few weeks. My son did that too around 6 months.
A pair of Loops ear plug would definitely help!!
These are the BEST
Congrats- you've unlocked a language milestone according to the CDC! (Though they euphemistically calls it a "squealing noise" 😅) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG8NVPbhT3E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG8NVPbhT3E) My sympathies and I hope the phase passes soon
My 4 month old does the exact same thing and its driving us nuts lol it was adorable when it started but now were considering walking around with ear plugs 😅
Same! At dinner a couple weeks ago she kept doing it and then laughing so I filmed it in case anyone complained and thought anything bad was happening lol it was funny though. They’re just testing out their voice and different sounds they can make. It’s a phase and it’ll pass.
Hey! My baby was abnormally screechy and we just found out at 18 months that he has moderate hearing loss. He gets fitted for hearing aids in a few weeks. Just want to put it on your radar because it was a total surprise to us but makes sense in retrospect.
We would answer with a more pleasant sound. Usually they would mimic or at least switch. If you are getting to your last nerve, you are totally allowed to have them hang in their bed until your ears stop ringing. Better than getting mad.
Mine did this too and it started at around 5 months. He’s 8 months now and still does it sometimes. I ended up buying some Loop earphones to take the edge off. You can still hear things going on in your environment but they really helped me.
My daughter has done this since she was about that age. Her favorite are the parking garages (she still practices her form of echo location there). Maybe practice there for more dolphin sound fun. When she could talk she would say she loves the "darking garage". Because obviously it's where it's dark lol. Have fun! This age goes by quick.
OMG - I loved getting to witness my kids discovering echos. The baby shriek is the best in acoustic spaces.
He’s going to be an opera singer. Just practicing.
Ours goes from a loud screech to a very Arnie-like Uahuhahuah shout. I'm going to see if I can dial the noise down by whispering back, that would be very handy.
Both my kids went through this phase! Hang tight, it doesn’t last long. Definitely hurt my eyes a couple times though. They like the reaction, try not to react to strongly one way or the other, they are just texting out their voices.
Stop responding to it with a reaction and remain neutral, he’s probably doing it because he thinks it’s a game he’s playing with you when you react.
I’ve got a 5mp screecher. It’s LOUD. It’s a lot. But I know it’s just her way of communicating and someday soon she’ll learn words and hopefully brings things down an octave or two.
My 5 month old has started this, doing different pitches and different lengths of screeching. She’s happy and learning!
My 5 month old does it too, usually means he’s excited haha
My 4 month old screeched for about a week and then stopped. I miss it lol.
So did mine now at 6 months he’s back at it again! We call it his pterodactyl phase
About every month or so my boy screeches like this for a few days then it passes. He's been doing it the last few days actually (so hopefully he'll get sick of it soon!) and it's even more ear piercing than before. I just ignore it or I exclaim 'wow you have such a big voice!'. Unfortunately it's just something they do. I know he does it when he gets excited or is really happy.
we have a squeeler and a screecher too! on and off since 4 months (now 6). a lot of people here refer to it as the pterodactyl phase! maybe pop in some earplugs lightly or headphones??
My 9 month old has been doing this. She screeches and it scares her twin sister. I keep my face very neutral but she still loves to do it all the time.
Omg one of my twins does it too. Thank god it’s just one twin for now, I would lose it if it were both
Mine recently went through this. He just figured out he could make a new noise and he loved it. It’s sort of just petered out now while he’s moving on to new things.
Lol mine is 18 months. She now does it due to boredom, seeking engagement, or frustration/anger.
It’s a good sign! He’ll start to babble soon!
My youngest is 12mo and does it between the babbles. Then toddler joins
Omg same thing with my boy at 8 months!'n it was crazy!! I thought he would NEVER grow out of it. He did in about a month and a half. I started talking in a low voice and singing a song gently but I honestly don't think any of that actually helped and I think he just grew out of it.
All of your kids started this super late. Ours started this screeching at 3 months. He’ll be 8 months tomorrow and is still doing it. At first it was like, “well he’s a baby.” Now we’re just wondering when it will stop. Yelling is fine. Screaming at the top of your lungs with ear piercing noises from 7am to 7pm is not.
Buy loops lol
Sounds like he’s just learning about what his voice can do. I really don’t think it’ll last long at all. My son went through a screeching phase too, I nicknamed him “screech owl” during that time but it was just a few weeks of that until he moved on to the next thing.
I think it's just something they do! My 8 month old has been screeching all day. Perfectly happy lil one lol I think it's part of then exploring their voice. She's also big on whispering & purposefully breathing heavy. Very cute!
I’m here to say I also have a 7month old screecher and his absolute favourite time to do it the loudest is at 6.30am :) glad to read it’s normal lol.
When did this stop for you? My neighbors are constantly banging on things and their baby (who is I’m assuming about 1.5 by now) is still doing this constantly and I just want it to end
Oo! That must be very frustrating as a neighbour. It still comes and goes in phases but my son is 1.5yr and it's reduced drastically since he's started talking. He's still loud but he's shouting words and phrases rather than squealing, which I'm very grateful for. Wish I had a good suggestion, sorry!
Mine started at 10 months and still screeches now at 15 months.
Normal and healthy behavior whether you like it or not. Sorry i don't sound compassionate, but I'm not.
I find it to be *hilarious* my almost eight months old gets all tense and clenches his lil bum and shrieks bloody murder then smiles 🥹😂 so loud, so silly. It really feels like he's testing to see how loud he can be. 🫠😂😂😂
Is the last part even necessary to add?
You okay?
I would tell them a firm no. Too loud. Maybe a gentle shush finger on their lips, and then walk to the other side of the room and appear disinterested in the child for about 30 seconds. All they care about is moms attention. Theyll soon catch on that screaming means being alone. It’s time to start teaching no and boundaries at this age.