Screaming baby

[Nayeli]

My daughter is 11 months old, screams every time to my attention is not on her. She doesn't cry she just screams and if she is not picked up right away she throws her self on back on the floor very hard. How can I make her stop?

[redcrx]

awful isnt it?
Babies seem to go through a stage of seperation anxiety, often seen worse in babies who are used to the sole attention of mummy although some babies have been known to cry when daddy leaves the room.
I found a few things helped when my son went through the stage.
Try leaving her for very short periods of time (a few seconds). Go out of the room, tell her where you are going and what you are doing, talk all the time. If she starts to get upset play peek-a-boo around the door or something to distract her. Eventually she will realise that you come back everytime and you can leave her for a few seconds more each time before peek-a-booing.
When she throws herself back on the floor, take no notice of the action (hard i know) as she is doing it for your attention as you said. Try and walk away and distract her with something. I used to ask my son where a certain toy was or start talking about what we were going to do for the day etc. he would then stop what he was doing and go onto something more fun.
I hope these tips help and that your little girl gets through this stage soon.

[wired]

You could also try a local mums & toddlers group which would give you both some diversion or get a friend to have her for a n hour or two to give you a break. It seems to go on forever to you now but it really doesn't.

[Le Chat]

I saw an episode of The Baby Whisperer where this was the problem. The mother was encouraged to pick up her daughter less and less but to have pop on the floor in the same room, with some toys and flip between playing with her and talking to her.
The problem eventually disappeared. The family also had big sleeping issues too and once these were 'cured' everything else fell into place.

[luckyeight]

Isn't this just attention seeking behaviour? Break the cycle, and stop picking her up 'on demand'.. This is classic temper tantrum stuff, isn't it? By letting yourself be manipulated by her behaviour, you are rewarding it. Of course she'll scream if she knows it will get you running to cuddle her whenever she wants. Not trying to sound harsh, but you need to reclaim the power, and give her attention on your terms, thus positively reinforcing the associations when you do.

[curiosity]

luckyeight she is 11 months old, obviously not cognitively developed enough to be manipulative! But as redcrx suggests she may be able to learn by a gentle process of being left alone safely for very short periods of time, being reassured by your return, hence learning that when you disappear visibilly you arn't gone forever. Helen Bee The Developing Child book is excellent for explaining all these behaviours, it's not boring it's really interesting and factual. Good Luck