Is this just behaioural

[Tazxxxxxx]

Hello everyone, i hope u can help

I am a first time mum and my little boy is nearly 10 months old, now heres the question, i take my son round to mu sisters house who has a little girl who is 16 months old. My sisters daughter has a set of lungs on her and loves to scream and be very vocal, Now every single time lucy ( sisters daughter) decides to scream my little boy bursts into uncontrollable tears. He settles quite quickly but starts all over again when lucy raises her voice. To be fair on my boy it is ofter quite loud and screetchy but he breaks his heart and i have to leave. Now my boy is a shy boy and has to get to know somebody before he goes anywhere near. Hes fine with other loud noises like the dog barking and screeming children in play groups. I hope someone can relate because its on my mind so much xxxx

Hi, I only have one 12 month DS so wouldn't call myself an experienced mum in any way, but I think your little boy sounds fine. There is probably some reason that you'll never fathom that a particular sound sets him off. My DS is a very outgoing baby and perfectly happy in noisy situations, but if I take him into public toilets with me I can't use the hand drier or he bursts into tears (and yet he's fine standing right next to the Hoover at home ).

Awe thanku so much, my son is exactly the same, loves the hoover hates the hand dryer :) it just gets upsetting because lucy is his cousin and i wish he would be more outgoing, but hes not even 10 months yet so just see how it goes, thanks again!! Xx

I'm sure he will grow out of it. Some babies just take longer to develop their confidence than others. DS used to cry when DH sneezed but now he thinks it's funny

My best friend's DS was just like this, and my DD, a couple of months older, was the noisy one. It was worse when he was tired or if DD was hungry, so we avoided these situations where possible.

DD did it deliberately for a while because she loved the noise he made in response (thought he was joining in I suppose!) but she was only being a baby too.

They're best friends now, at 4 (but still know how to push each other's buttons!).

Thanku so much for your stories its really put my mind at rest : )

Hi -

A loud scream may 'scare' him if it's something he doesn't usually hear. He may also be mystified as to how she does it, and doesn't think he could do it himself (and probably best if he doesn't!)

Next time you go, maybe warn him about it in advance.

He may have particularly sensitive hearing, and children can hear higher frequencies than adults, especially adults who have been to loud rock concerts!

If his hearing is acute, he might be good at music as he gets older. When you have a routine visit to GP or HV, a hearing test for frequency response might be a possibility. (Children can start to play a keyboard and learn a bit about music from around 18 - 24 months.)

Ok thanku, you mention sensitive, acute hearing, is this a bad thing?

Sorry - I only just come back on for first time today.

Well, I'm only speculating about 'sensitive hearing', and I don't know how much people vary in how they hear things, but I guess they must vary to some extent. Like 'seeing' is different for different people, with the extreme being colour blindness.

But I don't think it is anything to worry about, especially as he is OK at playgroup, or barking dogs etc.

See if you can find any information on Google about variations in 'hearing', and why people react differently to sounds.

(If I find anything out I'll try come back sometime.)