Toddler 'phobia's

[HappyJoyful]

My 2.3yr old DD has total meltdown at the hoover, I believe this is common, she recently did same thing with a hand dryer, an electric mixer and most randomly the kitchen scales ?!? I'm sure majority (exc. scales) are all natural 'phobia's'

Oh and again, not uncommon but causes major meltdown and shaking 'fear' of having nails cut.

Just wondering what else there is I need to look out for that might cause meltdown? And, other than lots of cuddles and reassurance that these are just things etc, assume there is nothing really I can do and it's a phase that will pass but any tips in dealing with it welcome!

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

She's a meanie isn't she! I'm pretty sure that's emotional abuse, poor Iggle! :o

Sams I'm sorry but that made me giggle!

[boredbuthappy]

My DS, jsut turned 2, and for the past couple of months had been going through a phase of being utterly shaken to the bone by just about everything, including the wind. It seems to be dying down now, he's not jittery about much anymore but definitely still coming running to hide in between my knees and ask me 'what's that?' For weeks he'd been pointing in empty corners 'I don't like that', I was actually starting to think 'I see dead people' but that also has stopped. It is definitely a phase, I read somewhere that their imaginations at this age start to really come to life, their dreams are more vivid and that all that can scare them...we'll never really know though!

[vvviola]

I posted about this recently, as DD2 (19 months) has some odd ones:

Tape measures (the soft fabric type)
The fan in the sitting room, but not the one in her bedroom
Flies
The plug in heater at a hotel we stayed at


And the usual stuff like the vacuum cleaner, food processor etc.

Oddly, she loves DH's soda stream, giggles manically when he uses it, then shouts "Daddy" and blows raspberries. Odd child

[SpottyTeacakes]

The only thing dd hates is that bastarding go compare man. Cries and hides every time he comes on the bloody telly

[Ozziegirly]

Bloody dyson hand dryers. Ds totally fine with anything (even other hand dryers) apart from these shouty fuckers.

[legalalien]

We had the very common hair washing thing, and a slightly more strange fear of..... the Michelin man.

I bought DS an i-Spy book (www.ispymichelin.com/kids.htm) aged 3, and he didn't like the way that the Michelin man looked at him. He has a point.

[notcitrus]

Ds was terrified of the hairdresser, until I realised that what he was actually scared of was the big cape they put round you so hair doesn't go on your clothes. Now I just take a spare top for him and he's good as gold as long as it doesn't take too long.

And touching sticky or wet stuff. He's a lot better age 4.8 but still won't touch pieces of fruit or salad, and when tired still wails "I can't take my wellies off, they're wet!"
Oddly the hand dryers he's OK with, just tells them off for being too loud!

[HappyJoyful]

I forgot haircutting!

Glad to see it's not just DD that has these phobia's, and as commented I do think lots of it is to do with a growing imagination. We're having the odd comment now of 'there's a monster downstair's' type thing and whilst not scared or shaking etc, clearly she's thinking about it in some way.

I've tried bribing re nail cutting to no avail, attempted to do whilst she dozed on sofa over the weekend desperate measures called also for snipping toes of pair of tights! 3 nails in and she woke up. Guess it's 3 more than we'd have got done otherwise.

[BeCool]

Following on from the crocodile bathmat:
Clothes with wild animals on them! Cue screaming GET OFF GOT OFF over and over. Real tears. Bless her.

Clothes with domesticated animals - cats, dogs, Boots the Monkey - are OK.

[keely79]

Hand dryers again here - have to reassure her that there will be no hand dryer in toilet or that she can wipe her hands on my trousers instead. If we go in and they have paper, she exclaims "How clever!". Have had to coax her out of the bathroom stalls before where she has scooted when someone else has used the dryer.

Also hair washing can be a bit of screaming nightmare - or generally getting water on her head.

[howdoo]

When I opened this, I thought, ooh is it hairdryers or the hoover, or possibly grass? All of which DS1 was scared of when he was 2ish. Also dogs, although is getting better now (8). Would just also mention that this MAY mean your DD is "highly sensitive" and Elaine Aron wrote a book called the Highly Sensitive Child about this, which was a godsend to me. (Equally your DD may not be HSC at all!)

[HappyJoyful]

Ice scraping off the car window this am resorted in a mini moment of 'NO!'
Will have a look at the book.. given what other's are saying does seem very common though thankfully. Also interesting as she's so 'robust' and carefree in all other aspects of things that I'd be far more cautious about, so I think it is a noise thing or innate objects that she's just learning so quickly.

[HappyJoyful]

ohh meant to add, the clothes thing is interesting too - we don't have problems with images, just poppers!

[corinthian]

By the way, I found the book Playful Parenting very good for dealing with toddler fears - lots of it is more aimed at older children, but there's still a lot of principles that you can use with toddlers. I think in many cases, especially for stuff that isn't that big a practical problem (it's fairly easy to keep DS away from horses!), it is just a matter of time though.

[catlover83]

Snow...

[fififrog]

I actually started a similar thread a few months back and someone told me they had told their DC that baby dragons lived in hand driers practising hot air til they could breathe fire. After having set off the hand drier with the change bag for the third time in two days this weekend resulting in near total refusal to let me change her nappy, I tried this story out (she loves Zog now so I figured worth a try) and she looked quite bemused and pleased and let me change her. Gave that pesky blower a wide berth nevertheless and of course there were no paper towels in the hideous stinky cubicle