Sudden fear of the outdoors!

[Hollysmummy0212]

My 16 mo DD has suddenly (over the last week) decided she does not like going outside in our garden. We went on holiday 3 weeks ago and she was fine before then and fine with being outdoors whilst we were away. However since being back home, she suddenly does not like going outdoors. Whereas before as soon as the door opened (front or back) she was out there before we could stop her, now she just looks at it and says no and tries to close the door. We were with friends yesterday and she was fine walking in and out of their garden but today when I put the washing out, she just screamed and screamed the whole time and clung onto my legs. There is nothing scary that I'm aware of in the garden and nothing scary has happened to her in the garden either. Nursery have also commented a bit that in the last week particularly she has been scared of the helicopters going overhead and of the lorries or motorbikes going by outside. They are managing this though by encouraging her to wave bye bye to the helicopters etc. I'm just puzzled by where this strange and intense dislike of the outdoors has come from and don't know what I can do to help her get over it. Any suggestions?

My DD is 2.3 and for the last few months has had an intense dislike of the wind. It really puts her off being outside. Playground trips can end after 5 mins if she deems it "not very nice out"...

But if it's not the weather, in general she has had a phase of at least six months of random phobias. Some of them more deep-rooted (hairdryer, Hoover, handdryers) but many of them quite specific, odd, and short-lived, e.g. broom, dustpan and brush, ants, moths, flies, toys that make noises and move. These she has mostly grown out of seemingly as quickly as she got scared. With the wind and insects I have tried To just keep telling her it's ok and show her nothing bad will happen. Eg I spent ages trying to catch an ant and her opinion improved some when I said it was tickly. Flies she absolutely scream at, and I tell her they are annoying and buzzy but won't hurt her, but sometimes she can be heard muttering to herself "not afraid".

Basically it could be one of these sudden toddler phobia/anxieties and at only 16mo I am guessing she can't talk well enough to explain. I'd just try to be reassuring and not make a big deal out of it. It's tough when it's something you can't easily avoid and so control access to though.

Similar experience yesterday. DD 18m was scared of leaves on the decking. She would not walk past them tothe slide and cried. She got upset that the sand made her hands 'dirty'. Upset that she had fluff on her toes which was 'dirty'. Everything is 'dirty', and it upsets her.

I had heard that they could suddenly get scared by things like the hoover but hadn't really come across being scared of the outdoors before. Nursery reported an improvement today in that she waved to the helicopters rather than crying but was still really clingy in the garden. I think I'll do as you suggested fififrog and just reassure her everytime we're outside. She likes going on her trike so I may take her for a ride on that, just so she can get used to being outside and then we can work on her running around and getting used to being on the grass etc again.

Good luck! Today we went to the beach - last time she spent loads of time in the sea. Today it was "afraid of the wind", "afraid of the sea" and "not afraid of the stones" (but much happier with my crocs on. Still, we got through it with lots of cuddles and holding her out so she could dip her toes in. On the way back I said "did you have a lovely time?" and she said "a little bit, I was a bit afraid". So yeah, still comes and goes, but I think it's easier now that she can talk about it a bit.

DS did this when he was a similar age - maybe about 18 months. It was almost overnight from being happy playing in the mud, handling snails etc, and a big shock! Someone on MN suggested that it might be to do with them starting to understand fear. What we did was like you've suggested, to continue taking him out and about, either in the pushchair or carrying him, and just walk around and point things out and chat to him. We never tried to persuade him to try and stand on the grass or get down if he didn't want to. It only lasted a few weeks and then he was fine again. Not completely back to his old care-free self, he is now a bit funny about mud and claims that snails are chasing him but he is back to loving being outside. Good luck!

It's reassuring to know that it just seems o be a phase. Will keep taking her outside with me and explaining things to her and reassuring her and hopefully she will eventually not be as scared.