I've got a Screamer!

I dont think i ever suggested you leave him lying around for hours, im a mother of two and im perfectly aware of the times you cant have them with you. My girls also do not scream for attention now if they want me they come and find me and ask me or tell me what they need, your son cant hence the scream thats all I was getting at, no it doesnt hurt them to know that you cant always be there id just personally not be enforcing that at such a young age especially when they are getting to that difficult stage where seperation anxiety can happen. Like I said tho its just my personal experiences and my parenting its really not for everyone, for me at the end of the day as long as a child is happy how you "parent" them is really not any of my or anyone elses business! I would say tho does he still scream if he can see you? cos if not then he is showing signs of seperation anxiety and id stop that before he becomes miserable and crying, simple thing to do is take him with you, sit him in his highchair while you cook etc obviously toilet etc he cant and that wont hurt but if he really just needs the comfort of seeing you me personally id give that to him, if he wants to be picked up constantly well personally i would do so but thats not for everyone so maybe set a time limit (remembering a couple of minutes may feel like FOREVER to a smallbaby) of two minutes and then go give him his cuddle so he knows a scream wont automatically get your cuddles BUT you will always come back altho even that goes against everything in me to do like I said i generally give them what ever type of attention they need even if its just a cuddle and as i said my girls are not clingy spoiled little brats like some might think from reading my parenting!

I agree, giving a young baby attention is VERY important. I'm not leaving him sitting or laying alone for long periods of time without giving him the attention he needs. I work a full time job (while he stays at home with his dad or his grandma), and the first thing I do every day when I get home is lay on the bed with him, tickle him, play with him, read him a story, and just entertain him until time for his next bottle to make up for not having seen him in hours. But as important as one on one attention is, its equally important that they learn they can not be held and played with every second of every day. There are lots of things that can be done while I hold him. He sits in my lap while I check e-mail. He lays in the bedroom with me as I get ready for work. If I'm watching a movie with my hubby then he is in my lap. If I'm doing house work in one room specifically, even if I can't hold him I keep him close to me in his chair or on a pallet on the floor so I can talk to him. There are other times where I can't hold him. If I held him while I tried to cook it could end up with him being horribly burned. I also can't hold him while I wash dogs, or he'd end up covered in dirty dog water when they got out of the tub. I can't hold him when I'M taking a bath or going potty. And other similar things makes it necessary for him to sit in his swing, playpen or bed alone. I try to keep him close to me so that I can talk to him while I do housework (except cooking because I don't want him anywhere near the stove while I'm cooking). Just today while I cleaned my pet rats cage he was on a pallet in the room, playing with a rattle and scooting around and I sang to him while I cleaned the cage. He was content then. Later, when I had to set him down in his playpen while I fixed lunch he started making his squeal/scream noises over and over and over until I was able to pick him up again. Its not a crying scream, just a high pitched scream that he uses as an attention getter, and I don't find anything wrong with wanting him to learn at an early age that screaming is not an appropriate way to get my attention. One thing I've always hated to see is a kid that cries or screams when he/she doesn't get his/her way, and then the parents give in to them because they are screaming. I don't want him to become that kind of kid and I don't want to become that kind of parent.

Yes, some of the screaming happens when he can still see me. I do try to keep him as close to me as possible even when I can't hold him. I don't usually take him in the kitchen with me, but where his swing is situated he can see me through the doorway. Some times, like on the pallet yesterday, he is content to scoot around and play while I'm nearby talking or singing to him. Other times he'll be in the same room with me while I'm doing something else (him playing in his high chair while I'm across from him working in my art journal for example) and the squealing/screaming will start. It does happen MORE often if I'm not in his line of sight, but often enough when I'm in the same room that I'm pretty sure its not just because he can't see me. I think that once he is more mobile he will squeal/scream less. He can scoot around pretty well, but hasn't mastered the whole crawling thing yet. I think he might be getting bored sitting alone, since a large part of the time we ARE holding and entertaining him.

I talk to him in a soothing vocie sometimes and say, "You can't scream like that. That hurts mommy and daddy's ears." Mostly I try to just not give him positive attention when he's doing it.

Probably it is just a phase and he will grow out of it soon. Parenting is hard, if I had known it was going to be this hard, I wouldn't have children....no...I take that back, the joy they bring is cancels out all the hardships and more.

Same here. My so in the best thing that has happened in my whole life. Ever.

We do rotate his toys. Its rattles sometimes. Sometimes soft plushies, other times his musical toys.. Sometimes his board books or blocks. Funny to me is that his favorite "toy" is usually a clean burp cloth.

When my husband isn't happy about something he is very vocal about it. I think that is where our son is getting it from. He is a happy baby full of smiles. His happy noises are not high pitched though. They can be loud, but are usually Ahhhh or Uhhhh noises and not squealie at all.

He also makes a nose we call his "possessed baby" noise, a low growing deep in his throat. I do hope a Mama or Daddy might come out of those noises one day. -grin-

Hopefully he will outgrow it. I was pleasantly surprised today when he lay contented on a floor pallet while I cleaned or pet rat's cage. He cooed and babbled and talked but didn't scream. That came later, when I put him down so I could cook lunch.