What to do with a Screamer?

[raina]

Dcg is almost 1 and screams all day. If I put her in a high chair for meals, she screams because she doesn't have food, or because her neighbor baby has better food, or because she threw her cup again.
If she's playing, she's screaming because the older kids won't let her snatch the toys from them.

She's a happy baby.... When she's not screaming. It's not like she is crying, she is just screaming. Dcm thinks it SO cute and screams back at her in a cutesy way. Her brother 5 (sa) laughs when she screams.

How do I fix this? I have yet another headache today

[Unregistered]

I would tell mom & school age brother to stop encouraging it and making it worse and that it makes you stressed by the end of the day. I would also not give her any attention while she is screaming.

[knoxmomof2]

If one of my babies scream, I say "uh-uh, no no" and shake my head while not giving them what they want. When they're quiet, they get it. If I can't get to them right away, I also start teaching them words / phrases - "please wait" or "one second". I keep saying it in a singsong voice until I can get to them. Then I give them what they want. As they grow, you pause for longer and longer and they get it. I would try to anticipate and avoid situations where she screams when you can, to cut down on the frequency of screaming as you work with the child on learning the phrases during the times when you can't avoid it.

For brother, I would tell him "no thank you, it's not funny when she screams. It hurts my ears" and then just say "no thank you" after a few times of the longer phrase. I would just ignore Mom's laughing and move on with the day.