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Toddler made anxious by everyday noises - normal?

5 replies

spursmummy · 18/03/2009 10:43

My dd is 2.3 years and is mostly a happy, sociable little girl. But recently she's developed a fear of noises such as birds singing and police car/ambulance sirens, and also gets edgy if she hears a car or motorbike going past the house in the evenings. I've explained that the birds sing because they're happy (apart from a malevolant old rook which sits on a tree behind our house and makes a real racket at times - can't say I blame her for being nervy of him/her!) and that the police/car ambulance is going to help someone, not us because we're all well. She then gets anxious that the bird/vehicle might try to get in the house. At this point I explain that birds live in trees and can't get in the house, and that the vehicles are too big to come in and anyway they live on the roads. She repeats what I say a couple of times as if to reassure herself and then seems fine. Is this a normal thing? And am I handling it correctly? It's hard trying to explain things I take for granted in a simple enough way for her to understand! I want to reassure her without saying anything that will inadvertently make it worse. Any help/advice gratefully received!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Elibean · 18/03/2009 10:49

Totally normal

dd1 (who is still a mostly happy, sociable little girl at 5!) at just over 2 got scared of trains; owls; bells; boys; dogs and various other things which now scare her not one bit.

The best way through, I found, was to to acknowledge her fear eg: 'you feel scared of that noise' and give her a cuddle, without making a big deal of it, then do exactly what you are doing - explain that although she felt scared of xyz, it wasn't dangerous and she would be fine. Each mini fear passed, some more quickly than others.

Sounds like what you're doing is perfect - understanding that she's nervous, then reassuring her

duchesse · 18/03/2009 11:04

My son was really scared of the vacuum cleaner at 2 (not especially surprising given how infrequently he heard it...but I digress) and would cover his ears and shout "Noise!!" and be really distressed. I think that a lot of small children find everyday sounds overwhelming in ways that we can't understand because we've either got used to them or just can't hear because we're old and our hearing is failing...

Give it time, and keep explaining where the noises come from, and she will learn to identify noises and will find them less scary.

ohdearwhatamess · 18/03/2009 11:20

Ds1 went through a phase of this at about the same sort of age - hand driers in public loos, motorbikes, blenders, lawn mowers etc. He'd cover his ears and say 'too noisy', and was terrified of the hand driers. It passed without me noticing, I guess over a 6 month(ish) period. I tried to not make a fuss if he got upset, and to explain what the noise was.

claireybee · 18/03/2009 11:26

DD went through a stage of this too, she was terrified of everything for a while. She is over it now though (2.9)

PrettySprinkles · 18/03/2009 16:44

My daughter is now 3.5 and still has a fear of hundreds of things. Hoping they'll fade eventually

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