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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to ask what bizarre things your baby is afraid of?

160 replies

WorriedFTM1 · 05/09/2019 17:08

Lighthearted really, although I can't stop worrying about the amount of things my 1 year old is afraid of!

The biggest day to day worry for him is ceiling lights! This started a couple of months ago and hasn't gone away yet. We show him how they switch on and off and he seems to even enjoy this sometimes but at other times he can be happily playing and then look up at the light fitting (on or off) and get really upset. When I am carrying him and he is higher up so closer to the lights he clings on to me for dear life. He has started shows signs of being afraid of light fittings when out and about too.
He is also afraid of noises when he can't detect where they are coming from (for example, the sound of the ice cream van outside or when I talk to Alexa and it talks back- I've stopped doing this).
What unfathomable things are your babies afraid of? For those who have been through it, please tell me this will pass. I can't make light fittings go away unfortunately!

OP posts:

birdling · 06/09/2019 20:23

My ds is 5 and is has always been frightened of buttons on clothes.

butmynameisveronica · 06/09/2019 20:52

Like many here, my girl is frightened of hand dryers in public toilets. She is getting over it slowly, bless her, but she eyes them suspiciously whenever we're in the loo!

The other day I bought myself a water bottle with the Minecraft Creeper face on it, so it wouldn't get lost at work. She freaked out when she first saw it on the kitchen counter, then after walking towards and away from it a few times, decided she wanted to carry it around for me.

Griefmonster · 06/09/2019 20:54

Sand

Minai · 06/09/2019 20:56

The very important lady on twirlywoos. We went to see it live and he loved it. Until she came on stage. He howled! He’s ok with her now he’s 2 😂

Bobobobobob · 06/09/2019 20:59

A song on Youtube about broccoli.

UAEMum · 06/09/2019 21:00

My youngest was afraid of grass. Didnt matter too much as we live in the desert but we couldn't go to a park for ages

MidnightMystery · 06/09/2019 21:03

Fluff !
Especially if it's floating in the bath water.

ItsMischerWavy · 06/09/2019 21:09

My daughter loves bubbles (bath/washing up type bubbles) however she HATES them touching her!!

When I was a toddler (won't lie, until I was mid twenties) I was petrified of the rescuers lol. I only watched it again in my twenties because my nan made me

CrazyCatLady159 · 06/09/2019 21:13

My dd hated anyone wearing red clothes or glasses ......
we banned my brother from wearing a coat when we was visiting in the winter and my dad couldn't wear his red jumper

I struggled to see without my glasses so that was fun

VladmirsPoutine · 06/09/2019 21:17

@CrazyCatLady159 How did you figure out it was specifically red - given I suppose your brother might have been wearing a white shirt and blue jeans?

CrazyCatLady159 · 06/09/2019 21:21

@VladmirsPoutine I went there wearing blue jeans and a black jumper; my brother came downstairs with blue jeans and his red coat done up; she cried. He took the coat off and she stopped

My dad came in wearing his red jumper and blue jeans, she cried, he took off the jumper and had another colour top on underneath, she stopped

Yogurtcoveredricecake · 06/09/2019 21:22

Great thread!

DS hates swimming pools, showers and people wearing masks.

VladmirsPoutine · 06/09/2019 21:24

@CrazyCatLady159 good for her! At least she recognises the colour that signals danger!

FragileMoose · 06/09/2019 21:28

My ds is is scared of number zoo (cartoon). There's a bear that gets stung by some a bee on it that he finds terrifying, a lion that he just hates and a crocodile that snaps its mouth shut when the narrator is trying to count its teeth that makes him scared... Planning on taking ds to the real zoo for his birthday but thinking about it I may have to reconsider!

RHTawneyonabus · 06/09/2019 21:36

Mine has been yelling ‘sun moon gone’ today and then crying. Can’t work out what he’s afraid of - unless he’s trying to warm us of an impending apocalypse?

quaaludesonchristmaseve · 06/09/2019 21:49

My now 13 year old was petrified of the face that used to appear on the outside of the house from Step Inside the ceebeebies programme on years ago! Used to run behind the settee and hide while cruel mummy howled with laughter!!
To be fair how I've written it does make it sound creepy!

AGnu · 06/09/2019 22:35

Engine noises but I think mostly when she can't see the vehicle. She likes watching a "eh-cok-cok" flying overhead but makes a scared whining noise if she hears it but doesn't see it.

wanderings · 07/09/2019 20:50

@RHTawneyonabus "Sun moon gone" doesn't by any chance mean that the Gro-Clock was accidentally unplugged? Mind you, if my parents had got one of those, the thing itself would have terrified me.

Rachelover40 · 07/09/2019 21:32

Mine was scared of heights from the start, couldn't put him in a baby sling. He had to be held securely. Also didn't like anyone lifting him up high.

Later on he was scared of the spring. Yeah I know, difficult to explain. Good for a mick take now he's grown up. If he is bothered about something we just say, "The spring must be coming".

RenegadeMrs · 07/09/2019 21:46

My 2 year old told me today that the castle badge episode of hey duggee! Was 'too scary' for her

Pinktornado · 08/09/2019 07:06

I can’t find the link but I read recently about a group of primary age kids who investigated hand driers and found that a) they’re only tested for sound limits in laboratories and are actually much louder in echoey rooms like toilets and b) they’re only tested at adult ear height and actually are much louder (possibly damaging to ears) at child height. Poor tots!

I particularly empathize as I used to have a phobia of the toilet flushing. It was just sooo loud. I had a whole ritual where I would carefully wash my hands, open the bathroom door wide so I could make my getaway, then flush and run as fast as I could.

MRex · 08/09/2019 08:00

Men with beards who aren't Daddy have been an ongoing issue the past year (18 months). Grandpa and one neighbour have recently started to get a pass, with just slight upset before he realises it's them.

The major thing is that he has a fear of being alone. I was all about using cosleeper cots, but it turned out he needed to be touching one of us so we had to actually cosleep. From the first night in the hospital he seemed actually terrified being put down. No reflux, happy lying flat, doesn't care if his bed's warmed, just always wanted a hand on him. He moved on to giving a little shout 30-45 minutes after going to sleep for the night, where he needed a quick hug. Then he needed to just hear the door open to lie back down sound asleep (if we don't go he's up screaming and crying and won't settle, it's way less effort to go). Now he very rarely stirs early on, but every night at 3 or 4am he needs a hug or he gets frightened again, he'll settle for a sleepy pat. I guess it's gradually fading out later and later through the night now I think about the timing because it used to be midnight.

Lex234 · 08/09/2019 08:02

When my eldest was 3 he was terrified of "Winkie"-I can only assume he meant Wee Willie Winkie-I still to this day have no idea where that came from-he is 13 now!

Coffeeand2kitkats · 08/09/2019 08:20

The nonslip grippy mat that you put in the bath 🙄 from about 8 months of age so just lots of slippery baths over the last 2 years

CluelessNewMama · 08/09/2019 11:28

My 3 month old is terrified of sneezes. DH sneezes so loud and every time he does it she throws her arms in the air and screams 😭

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