Fear of spiders has disappeared since having DD

[Worzel9]

Just wanted to know if this happened to anyone else, it’s the strangest thing. I used to be painfully scared of spiders, I couldn’t be near them, I actually had been known to cry at the sight of them 😂 but since having DD 3 years ago it’s like the fear disappeared overnight. Just walked in the bathroom to a giant house spider, caught it in a jug (too big for a pint glass!) and put it outside - didn’t even bat an eyelid. Wtf.

This happened to me but with wasps.. I wouldn’t be able at all to be in the same room as a wasp before I had DS. So scared of them that just the sight of them would make me panic and run in the opposite direction.
So I had DS, (12 years ago now!) and I now have no fear of them in any room/space and have disposed of many without being scared..
I think it’s a Mama Bear thing- protecting my children is my role and I’ve had to step up.

Opposite for me. After having DD I went from tolerating them to really really not liking them AT ALL. I don't know if it was a primeval "avoid potential danger" thing. I can put the medium sized ones outside now but it definitely took a few years.

This happened to me too. I had a traumatic birth and tons of other awful stuff to deal with around the time I had DD, so it was like my subconscious just decided spiders were pretty unproblematic in the grand scheme of things!

I still don’t particularly like the big house spiders, but I can catch them and put them out, and I don’t get the jumping-heart freezing phobia terror at seeing one of them any more, either.

Other spiders like the thin-legged pholcids and ones smaller than the house spiders don’t bother me at all any more and I can happily pick them up, sleep with them in the room and all sorts that I wouldn’t have been able to do before having DD.

This happened to me…then my kids grew up and the phobia returned with a vengeance. I know they’re not actually harmful, but I wonder if it was some kind of protective urge that stopped the panic?

I think as you’ve had childbirth etc, spiders are so much less scary in comparison

Same here- I had to get over my aversion to them and show a calm face to DS since he was tiny. We catch them in a pint glass with cardboard over and put them outside. DS happily does it himself since he was about 12. DH catches daddy long legs in his bare hands 😱and puts them outside. Chunky moths too. I don't flap about like I used to so DS follows his dads lead which I'm very grateful for. DH has gone to friend's houses to evict spiders for them which is a bit extreme.

It's the realisation that you have to deal with it swiftly or you will have hysteria on your hands and that is worse than the spider...

Protective maternal instinct innit. Sadly pregnancy didn’t have this precise effect on me but I gained enough self-control to spend years pretending I wasn’t afraid so my kids wouldn’t be (I learned arachnophobia from my mum) and being all ‘oooh isn’t he handsome - let’s catch him carefully in the pint glass so we don’t hurt his legs’ while inside I was screaming. As soon as they were old enough I was like oh okay then you can do it. DS picks up all sorts and isn’t the least arsed. Although DD has been known to negotiate a fee for the removal of an especially leggy fella if she’s feeling a bit skint/evil.