Screaming toddler - help

DS (22 months) has started to scream all the time. Not for a long period, more like a short outburst but enough to get everyone looking if we are in public. Our instant reaction is to say 'no screaming' in a stern voice but we aren't too sure if this is the best way to deal with this. Should we just be ignoring this behvaviour and hope that it goes away?

Help please

Oh the lovely screaming My DD does this all the time and it drives me batty. And my Dad who is half deaf even said to me the other day that DD has a very piercing voice so she must be loud!

I basically do what Kel said. I tell DD that we don't scream in our family and if there is something she wants then she should use her words. Then I turn my back and ignore for as long as it takes for her to get the message and stop. Then I say thank you for using your words, what a good/grown up/well behaved girl you are. Sometimes I vary it a little and tell her to use her inside voice or quiet voice. Sometimes I whisper to her and she will stop screaming long enough to try and hear what I am saying and then whisper back. Depends on the situation.

The screaming when we go down the biscuit/chips/chocolate/lolly aisle at the supermarket is quite spectactular and I am yet to find a decent solution for that one! My current strategy is to tell her before we go that she is not getting any junk food and offer her to choose a soap/toothpaste/toothbrush depending on what we need that day, then head down and run and grab as fast as possible before the screaming starts up

Thanks for the tips everyone. Ignoring it seems to be helping. He now screams and then looks terribly confused as to why he's not getting any attention for it. Obviously if he screams because he's hurt himself or something I say something like 'ouch, that must have hurt'.