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Original poster

Is my 3 yo dd over-sensitive or is it normal to be scared by LOTS of not-very-scary things?

37 replies

peggotty · 25/06/2008 20:29

Of course I appreciate that what's not scary to me can be to a 3 year old, but today she refused to watch Cinderella and Dumbo, two Disney films I chose deliberately as I thought they were the least scary of most of the Disney films She seems to get freaked out by some very strange things which are not frightening and wouldn't be frightening to most other children. I always comfort her when she gets scared by these things but also try to play it down iykwim, or should I try to explain things more?

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sosolepew · 25/06/2008 20:33

My DD is now 10 and scared of everything, When she was younger she was terrified of Little Bo Peep on the Teletubbies , amongst others. I would comfort her but not make a big deal of it.

sosolepew · 25/06/2008 20:33

My DD is now 10 and scared of everything, When she was younger she was terrified of Little Bo Peep on the Teletubbies , amongst others. I would comfort her but not make a big deal of it.

SoupKitchen · 25/06/2008 20:33

I think it is a stage tbh, my dd is scared of things which change on a daily basis, and with tv progs/ films refuses them one day and pleads for them the next.
Hard work, i know but i wouldn't worry

sosolepew · 25/06/2008 20:33

Sorry, 'puter playing up.

TheArmadillo · 25/06/2008 20:35

3 yo olds are weird.

They have weird fears and phobias.

The best thing ime is to acknowledge the fear, explain if you can, put not to put too much attention.

Disney films, if you watch them from a 3 yos point of view can actually be quite scary - the music, making you jump and also things liek Dumbo being taken from his mum (often a fear lurking at the back of the mind of a 3 yo).

Then they will watch something you think will be terrifying and be completely non-plussed.

Ime it is normal. They think a lot and it's almost the first time they can consider these things and they can freak themselves out.

jollydo · 25/06/2008 20:46

My ds at 3 was terrified of Sportacus of LazyTown and panicked and cried if it came on TV. At his cousin's house he once became scared when watching Dora because the grumpy old troll was mentioned. He still doesn't like the part of Dumbo where his Mummy gets angry and is taken away and I always have to forward it! He is also (now 4) scared of insects and lots of loud noises including hand-dryers (tricky one as he won't go near public loos). He panicked recently when his uncle was going to open a bottle of fizzy wine because he knew it would pop.... so loads of fears here .

mistypeaks · 25/06/2008 20:53

Yeah they are weird. Mine was terrified of Mark Speight but loved Smarteenies so I had to record it then fast forward over the bits he was on. She jumps out of her skin if the wind blows the blinds (I can relate to that though). Terrified of swimming pools but loves bath time.
She is scared of loads of stuff. Yet the other day she managed to change the tv channel to zonehorror and was watching away killing herself giggling .

christywhisty · 25/06/2008 20:54

When DD was 3 she was scared of Theatre Curtains and being in woods and the cow peering over a hedge at the beginning of Rosie and Jim.

Original poster
peggotty · 25/06/2008 20:54

Yes a lot of her fears are related to things on tv. She does seem to have improved a bit in that she will watch things that she is scared or nervous of with me, whereas before I would just have to turn it off/over. She's quite an 'over-reactor' in general - i.e why simply say 'where's my teddy' when you can throw yourself on the floor, flail around screeching 'teddy's gone, teddy's goooone' or 'mummy, you're pulling my head ooffffff' (brushing her hair). God, it's trying!

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fryalot · 25/06/2008 20:57

my dd2 is scared of the weirdest things (and also some not so weird things)

She is, for example, terrified of cotton wool (weird to me, but apparently lots of people are) but is fine with cotton wool buds.

Twas the cause of much hilarity in our house (I know we shouldn't laugh, sorry ) when she ripped the end off a cotton wool bud and shrieked VERY LOUDLY because it was now no longer a cotton wool bud, merely cotton wool

anyway, I think it is a stage which she will probably outgrow.

pofaced · 25/06/2008 21:01

My DD was scared of all sorts of things at 3: she was the eldest and a bit of a PFB when it came to stories etc (eg most fairy stories are a bit scary when you are 3 as they deal with abandonment etc). Of course over time she "toughened up" a bit but is still sensitive at road kill etc I'd say it's normal and far preferable to the insensitivity of death and destruction in lots of cartoons

By the way, have you watched Dumbo? It is massively unsuitable! I too took it out when DD was 3 and watched with tears streaming down my face as the poor Mummy was chained up and taken away from her baby.

At that age, her favourite Didney thing was Jungle Book and later moved to Snow White. Pinnochio and Beauty and the Beast were never big hits.

Don't push her: lots of Disney stuff is based on quite frightening fairy tales and no matter how pretty the princess and happy ever after the ending, they are more suitable for a 5 year old. Stick to good stories and tapes instead by the likes of Julia Donaldson and Michael Rosen

LurkerOfTheUniverse · 25/06/2008 21:03

my dd used to be terrified of hand dryers in public toilets, you can imagine how helpful that was.

Also terrified of Numberjacks, still won't watch it. Oh, and the toilets at school, the dark, the hoover, bus engines, dogs, the sea. You name it, she was scared of it.

She's ok now though

LurkerOfTheUniverse · 25/06/2008 21:04

And the Gruffalo. Still hates that.

Original poster
peggotty · 25/06/2008 21:07

Yes Numberjacks! DD hates the Number-taker, that horrible man in white - I can totally understand that! Good point about Dumbo's poor mum, it is sad and horrible, but it hadn't even got to that bit when she decided she was scared. And it was 5 minutes into cinderella when the cat scratches the dog and the dog gets sent outside by cinderella and dd was inconsolable fgs!

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Original poster
peggotty · 25/06/2008 21:09

Lurker, your dd is scared of exactly the same things as mine! My copy of the gruffalo has been hidden on top of our wardrobe for 6 months!

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mistypeaks · 25/06/2008 21:09

Dr Seuss used to terrify me. I love it now. And so do both dds. They all have funny little fears and habits that you miss when they grow out of them.

LurkerOfTheUniverse · 25/06/2008 21:11

She wouldn't use the toilets at school for ages because they were 'too echoey' .

Also won't eat fishfinger if the coating has come off, it freaks her out.

LurkerOfTheUniverse · 25/06/2008 21:12

She is a lovely child though, honest

mistypeaks · 25/06/2008 21:14

Lurker - I understand you dds pain. If I even catch a hint of fish flesh or skin I'm off (gagging) for the hills!!!

ravenAK · 25/06/2008 21:16

Ds had an absolute terror attack coming back from the park a few months back - it was windy & I'd stuffed dd1's precious Blue Rabbit in my pocket - but an ear was sticking out. Ds would not have it that the wind was actually quite unlikely to tear Rabbit from my pocket & whirl him away.

I mean, it wasn't even his rabbit! Bless him, obviously a very real fear to him.

seeker · 25/06/2008 21:43

I heard a really panic inducing scream from the living room when ds was about 3. You know the sort of thing - the scream that makes a mother transport herself from one end of the house to the other without knowing how she did it. Major arterial bleed type scream. You know what caused it? Brum was being driven by a pantomime cow. And don't even start me on dd and the "scary lion" ( the one with wheels) in the Tellytubbies!

Aitch · 25/06/2008 21:45

don't know about cinderella but dumbo is fookin' terrifying imo. have you actually watched it all the way through, there's a jazz age sequence which is petrifying and i wouldn't let dd watch it by herself.

nellyup · 25/06/2008 22:00

Have two highly sensitive types in our house too and so nice to know I'm not the only person avoiding the hand-dryers in public toilets - we have a well-developed routine for those ones where the soap-water-air all comes automatically involving dashing for the door before the air comes. Strimmers invoke a similarly intense reaction, and to a lesser degree lawn-mowers.

Terrified by Numberjacks too, likewise Lazytown and most Disney films.

lol seeker's Brum and the pantomine cow!

JaceyBee · 26/06/2008 11:21

misty, my ds (3) was terrified of Mark Speight too, especially that big picture/little picture thing. He's not scared of anything now though and loves Doctor Who and Indiana Jones. My SIL's dd (5) is scared of practically everything on CBeebies and has never been able to sit through an entire disney film without hysterics. I'm sure it's just something they eventually grow out of but they may never be the sort of people who enjoy watching horror films, unlike me. Personally, the scariest stuff I see is on the f*cking news.

BecauseImWorthIt · 26/06/2008 11:27

It's got to be about her imagination - Cinderella is a pretty sad and potentially frightening story. Girl with no mother and seeming absent father, with two horrible bullies for sisters and an ogre of a mother.

I used to be scared of the Flower Top Men and the circus (which was regularly on telly back in the 60s). NOt really sure why, but there was something in there that got my mind going!