3yo scared of holes in socks!!!!

[jakethepeg]

My son is 3yrs 10mths and has, since mid Jan, been terrified of putting socks on in case they have holes in! It sounds ridiculous but its a nightmare to get him ready to go anywhere. He has also started screaming when its a nursery day (3 days a week) and he used to be fine, he has been to the same nursery since age 1.

Not a day goes by that he doesn't have at least 3 screaming tantrums after which he is tired and generally miserable.

I have spoken to my HV and she is coming to see me next week when DS isn't there so I can have a chat but I just thought I'd see if the sock thing is unique!

Also, this time last year he went through a phase of saying everything was going to blow away in the wind. He would hang onto his pram and say "blow away, it'll blow away" hysterically but funnily enough I can't remember when he stopped doing this. It just fizzled out.

I am just a bit concerned as he seems terrified of his socks and he is quite a worrier and very timid and I am not sure whether he is just being naughty for attention or has a genuine fear?

Thanks

Oh meant to add, he was born at 27 weeks and although has no probs that we can tell (is absolutely fine in pre-school, speaks well etc) I am worried as he had a small brain bleed and its always at the back of my mind that he may have something wrong.

i'm sure there is a genuine phobia of socks that is more common than you realise. i really have no more info that that, but it is a vague memory of a thread that's been on here before. i'll try a search...

Hi, jakethepeg,
My daughter suffers fron Anxiety, when she was 3 she refused to walk outside because of cracks in the pavement, she hated nursery and she still does'nt like females (we don't know why)

Dd is also being tested for Aspergers next week.

I hope your HV can help.

Dd is now 4 and has grown out of many of her little fears, for a while i hated taking her out as she was scaired of so many things including Dogs, loud noises and females.

hello

he sounds sensitive to me

dd1 is exactly the same, a sample of her fears include her own shadow, labels on clothes, buses, buzzers in shops, crowds etc etc

you name it, she has probably had an issue with it

I can really recommend a book called The Sensitive Child (will link in a bit)

basically just because YOU do not think it should be an issue it is to YOUR child

so I have had to sympathise and take things slowly

there is nothing wrong with your son however, do not worry

sensitive child website, has quiz to which dd1 ticked nearly every box

book

I am not an expert however (far from it) and you HV may say different but the above are worth investigating

made a huge difference in how I treated dd1

i can't find anything on the search, sorry, think i may have been confusing socks with cotton wool! (cotton socks, etc.. link confusion!) sorry, some more helpful mnetters will be along soon!

Wow thanks for all the replies already.

He is very very sensitive, even if we go into my mum's house and my dad makes a fuss about us walking in he will stay in the hallway crying - he is nearly 4 and knows his grandparents very well!

When I spoke to the HV she said it sounded like he was doing it for attention and to just take him to the car without socks/shoes on if he carries on screaming (I obviously have a limit to the cajoling as I have to get to work)but as he is genuinely terrified I don't want to make it worse. He also has normal tantrums about normal stuff which I know are him playing up and he gets ignored for those.

He will also say "I feel grumpy" sometimes bless him and I try to get him to talk about how he is feeling and give him lots of reassurance.

weeeeeeeeel, I go with the line now of "yes she may be on a wind up but she is vvvv upset so why not go along with it"

now I may be raising a spoilt madam but I find that if I take her fears seriously, they go away

for eg, her fear of buses (pain in the arse, let me tell you)

school trip planned, big sobbing fit re coach. So I did a picture of a coach with all the children with seatbelts on and a nice driver etc etc

she was ok on the coach

it would have been easier to day "oh ffs get on the coach and stop whinging" but she has a GENUINE FEAR of silly things

I am at the highly sensitive child quiz! I ticked 19 boxes, I can't believe that one of the questions was about not liking labels in clothes or seams of socks!!!

I really want to understand him better, I truly feel he is not just playing up with the sock thing (or the wind thing last year). I am going to order the book now and print the quiz off to show my HV.

Thank you so much.

We were warned of so many different things DS could have wrong with him from being prem but being highly sensitive wasn't one of them but it really makes sense!

I was too when I found it, on a thread on here iirc

please read the book, although it may make you feel bad for ignoring his fears in the past (it did me) when you realise they were genuine

sensitive children can be a pain, but a joy too, dd1 is so kind and thoughtful

thread I found was from June 06

I've just remembered - he is always asking me "are you happy or sad?" and I say happy then he says "now you ask me" and he says happy. But that started from nowhere - I wasn't sad or anything when he started asking me. Aw I feel sorry for him already, I know I am going to feel bad reading the book!!! but if it helps me to understand him - esp before starting school in Sept (which he is not looking forward to) then I will be grateful.

I clicked on this as my DD had a problem with buttons but my instincts are telling me something has upset him and the sock thing is his way of expressing it.

My son is doing this exact thing ! And checking if his fingers are bleeding (as he bites his nails) alot. He is 3 turning 4. In that phase of wondering whether to keep talking about it over and over or to try to shut it down. Hat to think of him worrying about things so young.