Sensitive toddler gets hysterical when other children cry - help!

[BellaPop]

My DD is 13 months old and gets absolutely hysterical if she hears other babies and children cry . It doesn't matter if it's her friends crying in front of her or if we hear a baby crying when we are out and about. She gets so so upset and it's very hard to calm her down again - what can I do? And why has this started all of a sudden? She is normally very happy and confident - though she is going through a very clingy stage at the moment also. Any advice is greatly accepted!

Some of mine were like this. They grew out of it although they can still get disturbed if someone is upset. Just reassure her if she gets upset.

I just used to explain why the baby was upset : he'shungry, or he fell down and hurt his head, etc. Even at 13 months they understand a lot and will pick up on the tone of your voice, reassuring them and explaining what is going on. My ds was like that, I can rememer doing this when he was about 15 to 18 months, and even at two years old he was still like that but now he doens't really care anymore!

Thank you Juule and BlueberryPancake! We had the morning at a friend's house, there were 2 toddlers - one that she knows very well - he is three months older and whines a little every time he doesn't get his way - as soon as he has a tiny whine it sets my dd off - in the end he worked out that if he did that, she'd cry and he pretended to whine and then laugh when my dd got hysterical! Dd spend almost the whole visit crying hysterically - I had her in my lap and cuddled and reassured her and tried to show her that the boy was ok and talked calmly to her, but to no avail. I feel so worried that this will zap her confidence - she used to be so confident and outgoing wherever we went before.

Have you had her hearing checked ?

A friend's child did the same and it turned out that the child had glue ear and the pitch of other children crying was hurting her inner ear.

My dd is 14 months and is the same... she also gets hysterical if anyone laughs suddenly Very odd

I have her booked in to have her ears checked - someone else also suggested that - but our gp surgery is very bad and the only decent dr there isn't available until 8th August, but at least we have got an appointment. And yes - my dd starts crying if someone laughs loudly too - and she startles very easily by sudden noises - do you think that is all connected to glue ear - or do you think she is just a very sensitive child? (I don't know anything about glue ear- I shall look it up now!)

I have just stumbled across this website because I'm desperate to try and find some advice on my little girl getting very distraught when she hears other children crying. I have tried everything I can think of to help her with this but without success. Was just wondering if BellaPop had had any luck?

oh wow....i am having the same issue with my daughter...she is now 21 mo. and we have been dealing with this since she is about 15 months, maybe a bit younger..it is very upsetting. whether it is a baby crying very nearby her or a toddler screeching/whining, she gets hysterical and it takes a while to calm her down...has anyone had a clear cut diagnosis from a doctor...my doc says its normal and she will grow out of it but i just cant imagine that this is normal..

I know it’s an old post, did your daughter grew out of it? My son is doing exactly same and I am worried. Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Could be a sensory difficulty - might be worth considering whether there are other sensory issues that you might have overlooked.

Everything is a phase - this issue will change!