Did your baby do things that freaked you out? What were they?

[WestminsterCrabby]

I'll start my saying I'm a FTM and very few of my friends have children yet so the world of babies is very much new to me.

DD is coming up to 8 months and is starting to do all sorts of things that frankly, freak me out! A quick google tells me it's all normal but I had no idea!

The weirdest one is the shaking her head rapidly from side to side with a big grin on her face.

Now she seems to have taken to sticking her tongue out and flicking it from side to side while making noises a la the Grudge.

Has anyone else got any weird behaviours I can look forward to freaking out about??

Bumping

Mine used to hit himself in the head/ face. Usually when tired, I put it down to him wanting to stay awake.

Before he was 1 ds used to throw all his bedding out the cot and them hurl himself out....

Fling her legs up in the air and bring them down to bash her heels into the floor. Looked painful, sounded terrible. MN told me it was common.

Slept with her eyes open
Then sleepwalking when a bit older!

@MrsTerryPratchett

Fling her legs up in the air and bring them down to bash her heels into the floor. Looked painful, sounded terrible. MN told me it was common.

DD did this lots in her cot! Legs up and then slamming down. V odd, but apparently a self-soothing thing. DH apparently used to head bang for the same reason

Sleeping with his eyes open and then giggling in his sleep 🤣🤣 the eye thing still freaks me out.

When my daughter was about 5-8 months old, she used to lie on her back, watch the ceiling for ages and laugh at it. Her dad even thought she was hallucinating at times. It was bizarre but she grew out of it.

Also, even at 2 years old she occasionally likes lying down, bringing her legs up and slamming them both down. It looks and sounds painful but she seems to enjoy doing it! We have a thick memory foam play mat in the living room, partly for this reason!

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Slept with her eyes open Then sleepwalking when a bit older!

Oh yes I'd forgotten about the eyes open sleeping! DD doesn't do it anymore but it used to freak me right out.

Night terrors. He could see things, very scary things, that I couldn’t see. And he also looked possessed. It was terrifying.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Fling her legs up in the air and bring them down to bash her heels into the floor. Looked painful, sounded terrible. MN told me it was common.

Oooh mine does that too!

Mine ate a spider 🤢! It wasn't even a little one - I had to hook it's half chewed corpse out of her mouth.

Dd sicked up blood when she was a couple of weeks old. I was terrified until DH pointed out that it was probably my blood.

They are not weird behaviours that's just what babies do

Pull to standing, fall over, bang head, cry inconsolably, immediately do it again. I used to follow her around placing cushions strategically around her while googling baby helmets.

@dollydimple123

They are not weird behaviours that's just what babies do

Of course but I had no idea!!

From about 9 months old my dd used to have breath holding attacks. When she was really upset or if she hurt herself, she would cry and then suddenly stop, go blue in the face and then pass out. It was absolutely terrifying. She’d come round pretty quickly but it seemed like ages at the time.
We did have her checked out, obviously. Apparently these breath holding attacks are fairly common. My daughter grew out of them at about 18 months.

DS used to fling his head from side to side in the cot just beige going to sleep, DD did it too, it was very strange but a self soothing thing. They also did the flinging legs in the air others have mentioned which I had forgotten about.

@ScarlettDarling

From about 9 months old my dd used to have breath holding attacks. When she was really upset or if she hurt herself, she would cry and then suddenly stop, go blue in the face and then pass out. It was absolutely terrifying. She’d come round pretty quickly but it seemed like ages at the time. We did have her checked out, obviously. Apparently these breath holding attacks are fairly common. My daughter grew out of them at about 18 months.

My god that's so scary!!

Only thing I can remember is how still dd got when she slept. Absolutely terrifying. I used to watch her, desperate for movement, but nothing. Like the living dead. Apparently really old people can be like this too.

@dollydimple123

They are not weird behaviours that's just what babies do

Uh huh. And when it's your first child or you're witnessing a strange behaviour (for that child) for the first time, it can be a little worrying. You are probably aware of the fact that babies aren't born with manual!

DS2 has absolutely terrifying nightmares and monsters in his room. There was the one "I woke up and my legs were gone" or "a giant spider ran down the steps of my bed" or "daddy was driving the car and we went into a big hole and it made a very big noise". There is also the mummy monster that lives in the gap behind his bed and comes out to grab him, or the monster that is reflected in his window (we live on the fourth floor).

Is this a seven year old who has been watching inappropriate horror movies? No, he's three and the scariest thing he watches is paw patrol. He just has a terrifying imagination.

DS3 used to just stop breathing as a baby in his sleep. Then I'd nudge him, he'd seem to choke, gasp and restart again. Or he would just start choking randomly on milk and I'd have to flip him over. He doesn't do it any more but I never left him alone sleeping until he was four months old despite thinking that recommendation is overkill, because I worried that he'd do it when I wasn't there.