4 Tips to Stop Your Child from Screaming in Public
Some children seem to enjoy screaming and causing a scene, and parents can find it very difficult to keep their patience, especially if they do it in public with people looking in surprise at such a spectacle. What parent hasn’t had this happen to them at some point? Here are some tips on how to stop your child from screaming in public.
On these occasions when children scream, you may feel the need to cover their mouths to keep them quiet. However, this would be detrimental, as you would be teaching them things which would be more difficult to correct later on.
On the one hand, you’d be teaching them that they’re not able to stop screaming on their own. On the other hand, you’d be showing them that it’s OK for stronger people to force others to do things. Remember that children imitate their parents’ behavior.
What can you do to stop your child from screaming in public?
We’ve already seen that covering their mouths isn’t a good solution, so this is out of the question. Here are four key steps to stop your child from screaming.
Immediately stop what you’re doing
If your child starts crying and screaming, as a parent, you need to stop what you’re doing and pay attention to your child. What could be wrong? Is it snack time and your child is hungry? Is your child upset about something? Could your child be hurt? These are some of the questions you can ask yourself to get an idea of the child’s situation.
Stoop down to the child’s level and look them in the eye
Stooping down, getting down to the child’s level, and looking them in the eye makes the child feel cared for, appreciated, and important. Parents can then better analyze the situation, looking at their child to see what’s going on. The solution may be easier than it seems; it’s just a matter of observing and analyzing.
Keep calm and quiet and observe
When you find yourself in this situation, the best thing to do is to try to be calm, smile at your child and lower your voice. This will set an example to your child and, if you speak softly, they may stop screaming so they can hear you.
Sing softly to your child
When your child is distraught, you could sing one of their favorite songs, but quietly. The little children, when they hear it, will want to quiet down so that they can hear it. So, choose their favorite song and get ready to sing!
Patience is the key tip to stop your child from screaming in public
These four tricks or steps can be done anywhere, but keep in mind that if the situation is creating anxiety or stress for the child, it’s important to take them away from where they are. If you can’t leave the place you’re in (a train, plane, etc.), what you can do is hold your child and whisper nice things in their ear to try to relax them.
If you can easily move away from where you are, then do it. Don’t worry about what the people around you may be thinking. Your child’s welfare is more important than the welfare of those around you at this time.
It’s important that you realize that you want to want to stop your child from screaming because you know they’re upset, and not because they’re upsetting those around them.
Children need their parents and they trust them, and if you follow these steps, they may end up calming down sooner. This doesn’t mean that in some situations, however much we as parents may know what we should do, we may get overwhelmed by the situations and say or do things that we later regret. Here are some tips to help if that is the situation.
Tips to try to deal with the situation better in the future
- Once the situation has calmed down, you need to explain to the child that you’ve said or done something you regret and that they probably didn’t like it either.
- Ask for their opinion on what they think you should do to try to calm things down when this situation occurs. This is especially useful if they’re an older child.
- When you’ve decided how you’ll try to help them control their behavior when it isn’t appropriate, then put it into practice.
- As with everything else, the more you practice when you’re feeling calm, the more effective it’ll be when you’re not calm.
Conclusion
So, we’ve already seen the four steps you can take to stop your child from screaming in public, and also at home. This applies to all contexts in which this type of behavior occurs.
In these situations, the main thing is to be patient, and to realize that tantrums, crying, and screaming are part of the normal process of a child’s emotional development.
We must be tolerant and understanding; we can’t expect them to learn immediately. The job of a parent is to be clear and kind to their children and to themselves.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Wild, R. (2011). Libertad y límites. Amor y respeto: Lo que los niños necesitan de nosotros. Herder Editorial.
- Bourcier, S. (2012). La agresividad en niños de 0 a 6 años:¿ energía vital o desórdenes de comportamiento? (Vol. 68). Narcea Ediciones.
- Shapiro, L. E. (2002). La salud emocional de los niños (Vol. 16). Edaf.