14 month old Dd afraid of Great Grandma- what can I do?

[lizardqueenie]

On the look out for some practical advice/ tips/ experiences here.
My 14 month old DD is quite afraid of her great nan (my nan). She can sometimes be a little wary of strangers but is usually very smiley or gives a cheeky grin if someone in the supermarket etc says hello. Every single time we see great granny though she really cries, happy to say hello & even be held by other members of the family but as soon as nan comes in the room she starts crying looking afraid & them even if she settles she watches her to see what she's doing. My man does wear glasses & some people have said that could be it?? Anyone else had this?

my DD was like this with her granfather for a bit, we just carried on as normal and she got over it. I wouldnt make a bit deal of it, it just turns into a game for her.

Get your nan to give her some chocolate buttons, they'll be best friends in no time

Glad to hear I'm not alone Jenny

Yes Xmas tried that yesterday with some little crispy snacks she likes but need to also persuade Nan to preserve and not decide "its not working" and get up and leave the room!

You're not alone! DD1 has been like this in the past...just persevere! Great if she lives close enough that you can just keep seeing her. In our experience if the adult was also a bit nervous/wary because of previous episodes of DD crying then that made it worse so we really tried to play it down (our DD would have a meltdown at MIL and FIL's house so it was very awkward!!)
The other thing that has really worked is showing our DD photos of granny and grandpa before seeing them and talking about them in between visits. They live a wee while away so don't see them all that often.

Good luck and it will get better! Like the chocolate buttons idea!

Get a £1 photo album, put pictures of friends and relatives in (with the key focus of putting Great Grandma in) go through it every day and reminisce with a smile and any old nonsense you can think of and in the end they become familiar. When you encounter GG next give DD breathing space to just get used to being in same room and let her approach at her speed. No point forcing it as it seems to aggravate. We had same problem with grandparents.

Thanks- good ideas. Surf I think you're onto something there- now my nan is literally waiting for dd to cry which I think makes the atmosphere tense! Pigeon great idea about the photo album- I shall pick one up in town tomorrow.