How would you handle a "yelling" baby?

Jennifer - posted on 12/29/2009

my 11month old is doing that now too! and if you pay attention to it alot they do it more! i find that talking to him sometimes helps and sometimes does not! yes it is their way of expressing themselves because they can't talk yet! don't worry my oldest did it and grew out of it too! and my 11month old is not doing it that much anymore!

Natasha - posted on 12/27/2009

definately dont smack his hand for yelling. my 11 month old screams when shes happy and screams when shes frustrated and its ear piercing, she especially likes to do this in cafes. Your son is just expressing himself in a way he has no control over yet. Good on him, atleast hes vocal, yay for hime.......I do know that its hard to listen to sometimes. Whoever said you might have an annoying baby obviously doesnt have kids of thier own or doesnt like kids, good luck.

Shirley - posted on 12/27/2009

my little 1 whos also 11 months is the same ,i leave her to get on with it when she throws her temper tantrums ,and shes calmed down with it because she knows shoutin gets her no were

Lindy - posted on 12/27/2009

My son is very vocal as well. We laugh and call him a sassy baby. This is your child expressing himself. At this stage of his life he has lots to say as he is learning and exploring and does not have the words to express himself. The yelling is the start of him understanding language and cause and effect. Please do not listen to advice to discipline him. Enjoy the fun of your baby's development.

Amythyst - posted on 12/27/2009

My daughter does this..I usually just tell her in a soft voice that that\s an outdopor voice and she needs to use her indoor voice. usually twice and she's back to babbling, if it persists i take her outside to scream with her for a few minutes so she can understand that she can yell outside but soft voices iondoors...hopefully this'll help you as well

Shannon - posted on 12/27/2009

When my daughter starting yelling, I didn't encourage it because there are times you don't want them doing this and they can't differentiate between, it's okay to yell when we're here at home having fun and it's not okay here. I didn't smack her hand, I just firmly said no, if she was in her highchair, (often she was), I would turn her away from us for a second and say no. It took a while, eventually she stopped. I don't know if it was saying no, not encouraging it or just her growing out of that stage. I know some people think it's cute but when my son was 9 months old we took a car trip with a friend who had a year old yeller and every time my poor son would fall asleep in the car, the other child would screech and wake him and then my son would cry. It made for a miserable trip and I think it was the first time my friend's son was told his yelling wasn't cute. But by then, you can't instantly break a habit that has been encouraged. I will say, we didn't discourage her loud babbling, just the screeching.

Erin - posted on 12/27/2009

I would not smack a baby's hand for yelling. That is awful.
Your instinct is right--he is expressing his emotions because he can't really talk yet. Sometimes babies ARE annoying. They do not fit into our "adult" world naturally.
Sometimes if you talk quietly to them in response they will try mimicking you.
The only think I would "discipline" a child for at this age is biting me while nursing. All I do for that is tell them "No!" and put them down or stop nursing them. Or if they are trying to touch something dangerous I tell them NO! and relocate them or take away the dangerous object.

Jenny - posted on 12/27/2009

My son is 11 month old and has been doing this for a while. Personally I think it is just him learning more and more about what sounds can come out of his mouth and I think it is a normal part of his development. He has also just recently started making lots more "talking" sounds so he really is just exploring. I say don't worry about it, enjoy it because it is so nice to see them learn new things in their own time. :0)

Dawn - posted on 12/26/2009

My daughter yells when she sees otehr kids because she wants to go play with them! She can't speak, so this is how she ocmmunicates. She is fine, obviouslly I am not going to let her do it during a somber moment, but during play time - let her go wild! Expressing her voice is good for her!



I read a post that said babies shouldn't be disciplined if they are under 2, and I could not agree LESS! My daughter knows the word no, and will back away from anything if I tell her it is hot. She needs to know to keep herself safe! I also go on to explain why I say no. She is too little to understand a lot, however she is never going to get anywhere if I talk to her like a baby. Not to mention the youth of this world could use discipline!

Lindsey - posted on 12/26/2009

I don't think that you should discipline him for this. Yelling is just exploring his voice. My son yells and he makes the funniest gurgle noise in his throat. Who cares if other people think your child is annoying, that is their problem not yours.

Renata - posted on 12/26/2009

I ALWAYS SAY ADULT ARE TOLKING BABIES ARE YELLING THAT IS THE WAY THEY COMUNNICATE I WOULD NOT DISCIPLINE BABY AT THAT AGE JUST CALL MY SELF LUCKY FOR HAVING ONE THAT IS HEALTHY.

Monica - posted on 12/26/2009

Hi there! I work in a mental health setting and althought I am not a therapist or Mental health professional I know that babies under 2 years old are not to be discipline. They are not emotianally and mentally mature enough to understand that what they are doing it may be annoying. I have an 11 month old and he has been screemning and yelling for a while now, I celebrate everyithing he does at this point and I dont think is annoying. I love his curiosity for everything and his experiments. I have a book called 123 Magic, that book confirms what I have been told by my co-workers NO DISCIPLINE should start before 2 years old. if your son does something that you dont want just distract him with something else I was also told that saying the word "NO" too much it confuses them if you can, limit yourself to say no to you baby for thing that are dangerous and important. I hope this is helpful!

Michele - posted on 12/25/2009

I also find it funny sometimes giving on the circumstance. like if we're at home and she starts it, I will yell with her. lol "what did u say?! NO WAY!! you've got to be joking!" her favorite thing to yell is "DA DA DA DA DA!" and I'll say "ohhh gosh wut did daddy do now?!" lol we have fun with it. he'll even ask her wut he did or he'll yell her name back!
When we're in a public place tho, I just ignore her and she stops. But yeah, your little one is just experimenting with this awesome noise that he can make with his mouth!

Teresa - posted on 12/25/2009

I think they are exploring. I find it funny sometimes when my son does it. I've noticed he doesn't do it in public, though. My son's 11 months, so I don't stress it too much. I talk to him and either ask him what happened (as if he's going to tell me. lol.) or tell him to please stop. I am hoping that the disciplining can be verbal and calm, yet firm, as much as possible--unless he's doing something dangerous or hurtful. I want to model how to handle conflict without resorting to physical or loud behaviors. Let's see how it goes.

Deanna - posted on 12/24/2009

i think its cute when my daughter yells around..i think they just make noise cause they realize they can n their gonna do it all they want lol

Louise - posted on 12/24/2009

babies like to hear the sound of their own voice i wud imagine that is why he is yelling my daughter does it all the time but it's not because she is being naughty its like she is singing to herself or likes to listen to herself i'm sure its a faze he will grow out of

Jenny - posted on 12/23/2009

My daughter does this...she is just expressing her emotions because she can't talk yet! I usually just ignore it when she gets too loud and she stops. If they know that they are going to get attention from them yelling they will do it more often.

Megan - posted on 12/21/2009

I wouldn't smack his hand just because he's yelling. He's a baby and baby's at this point don't really know what they're doing although I'm not saying discipline for certain habits is out of the question. My 11 month old daughter has a habit of tossing her toys off the side of her high chair and I smack her hand when she does it so she knows don't do it. For yelling, I would say maybe put him in some situations (not bad or dangerous ones obviously) and see how he reacts. It may be the excitement, alot of babies do that, or it could be something that momentarily scares him that you don't recognize.