My 5 yr old and 3 yr old scream or screech at the top of their lungs and it's driving me and my hubby crazy. What should we do to make them quit? It's like a habit. We tell them all the time to stop and have given time outs and nothing has worked so far. They just forget. How can we make them remember to stop with the loud and annoying screaming?

Now that sounds like it would not be fun at all. My daughter is only 1 so I don't have this problem yet. Sounds like a problem for Supernanny. lol

My toddler and my four year old have this problem sometimes. Here's what I do. Set a timer, and tell them that for the next 10 minutes, they MUST scream as loud as they can. They are not allowed to stop screaming until the timer goes off. When the timer goes off double check to see if they have any screaming left they feel they must, and then tell them that since they have got all their screams out, there will be no more screaming for the rest of the day. Give them three warnings for further screaming, and then give time outs. You may also want to try seperating them for awhile and having them play quietly by themselves until they calm down.

Does this work well for you, encouraging them to scream? I am wondering how it works when you are out somewhere and they start and you tell them no? When you don't have the luxury of letting them go at it for 10 minutes (god bless you, I couldn't last that long.) I'm not sure how to stop something like this - only to nip it in the bud when it starts. A parents reaction will set the tone the first 1 - 2 times it happens, and I believe it can be stopped at that point with firm guidance and discipline (no hitting!)

Well, I did try and nip it in the bud from the beginning and stopped for a little bit then it would reappear. This would go on and off. HELP! I might try the 10 minute screaming thing. Thanks.

I found that when the kids are having a bad repetitive behavior like that, giving them an alloted time to get it out of their systems really works. For instance, my four year old isn't allowed to say words like "poop" at the dinner table, but she can use "potty talk" all she wants in the bathroom. When she was younger she would snort like a pig when people were trying to talk to her, so before we had guests over I would give her ten minutes to snort like a pig as much as she could, with the understanding that it was her last chance to do so for the day. She thought it was really funny and it stopped the misbehavior.

Hmm... whatever works for you I guess.
Personally, I don't see how allowing the bad behavior at all is helpful in teaching them the correct way to be. If my child screamed like that (oh.. and they have!), they would get one nice but firm comment. If they scream again - time out (which is sitting face into the corner - no talking no moving). I leave them there for a few minutes, then go and talk to them. If they are not ready to speak nicely about the situation, I leave and come back in five more minutes.
I will not engage in a shouting match or argue with my children.

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Personally I just do whatever works. It does sound a bit strange to tell them to do the thing they shouldn't, but if it works I'm all for it. It reminds me of the parent that caught there teenager smoking and put them in a closet and made them smoke the whole pack before they could come out. That's an extreme thing, but I bet that teen won't smoke anymore.

Sometimes kids just need to get stuff out of their system. It's worked for me very well in the past, and I think it's better than yelling and punishing all the time for a behavior they are bound to repeat.

My son tends to scream a lot too. Talking to them in calm even tones even if on the inside you want to scream too is the best way I know how to get children to calm down. I am an elementary school teacher so I am around screaming kids all day. It takes lots of patience to deal with them.