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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>1 Year Olds' Shrieking Upsets Older Kids - Help!
Unregistered 12:49 PM 01-11-2016
I have two 15 months olds in my daycare and a very sensitive 2.5 year old boy (among other children too). The 15 month olds don't say many words yet but they loudly babble and shriek happily. The 2.5 year old get so upset when the 15 month olds are loud and shouts at them "Don't yell at me!" or "Stop yelling!". The 15 month olds clearly like getting a reaction because they smile and escalate the shrieking. I tell the 2.5 year old things like "They're not yelling at you, sometimes babies just talk loud." But it continues back and forth until I separate them. It frequently occurs at mealtime though, when I can't separate them. How do I teach the 2.5 year old to deal with this appropriately? Is it possible to teach the 15 month olds to not scream when it's upsetting others or are they too young? Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
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daycare 01:06 PM 01-11-2016
I don't have babies, so you many not agree with me, but my rule is that if one can't do it, then no one can.

if the rule is inside voices only, then you need to teach the little ones that rule. When they get loud, you put your finger over your lips and say shhhhh quiet voices and quiet your voice at the same time.

you can tell your older kids when the little ones do it, they need to just cover their ears.

I don't let the kids boss each other around or tell each other what to do.

If modeling the behavior does not work, I would sit them away from the rest until they were quiet. I have a screaming/crying spot at my house and they can do it there, but they can't come out of their until their done.
our daycare room is called the zen zone. You must be calm and collected to be in the zen zone, if not, you need to go to the crying spot until you are ready to come back calm and collected.
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childcaremom 01:49 PM 01-11-2016
Originally Posted by daycare:
I don't have babies, so you many not agree with me, but my rule is that if one can't do it, then no one can.

if the rule is inside voices only, then you need to teach the little ones that rule. When they get loud, you put your finger over your lips and say shhhhh quiet voices and quiet your voice at the same time.

you can tell your older kids when the little ones do it, they need to just cover their ears.

I don't let the kids boss each other around or tell each other what to do.

If modeling the behavior does not work, I would sit them away from the rest until they were quiet. I have a screaming/crying spot at my house and they can do it there, but they can't come out of their until their done.
our daycare room is called the zen zone. You must be calm and collected to be in the zen zone, if not, you need to go to the crying spot until you are ready to come back calm and collected.
This is what I do, too. I also say "indoor voices". Or I will cover my ears and say "too loud".

I would remind the older ones of the rules, as well. "too loud", etc. We use nice voices when we talk to our friends. I would also get them to 'help' remind the littles, too.
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Unregistered 02:13 PM 01-11-2016
I have my kids say Miss A says to use your inside voice. That way they aren't bossing just stating my rules.
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Ariana 02:22 PM 01-11-2016
Is there any way to distract them during meal times? I am assuming they do this out of boredom? I would probably separate the 15 month olds if they aren't capable of listening or being quiet. If they are feeding off each other I would try and separate them and make two separate tables.
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Unregistered 08:00 AM 01-12-2016
I guess I had been telling the older kids to tell the babies "shhh" and put their finger to their lips. But the 2.5 year old would get frustrated because the babies carried on and he'd end up screaming at them and then have a crying fit when I tell him he needs to stop screaming/yelling. I would sometimes remove him from the table until he could calm down and then he could come back. The older kids sit at the table and 15 month olds sit in high chairs. I tried facing the high chairs away so they couldn't see the other kids but they'd still start shrieking. Sometimes they may be doing this out of boredom. In this case, if they aren't eating anymore, I take them out of the high chair and put them back in the play area.

I was wondering whose behavior I should be correcting here and now I'm thinking both of them. I will keep teaching everyone "indoor voices" and use separation when necessary.

Thanks everyone!
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