DC is scared of so many toys... is it normal?

[Anonymous]

First it was this:



just the cow. She had no problems with the pig or the rooster but the cow would drive her crazy! She would cry and shake until we moved that thing away.

Now, at 9 months she got used to that one but this:



and this:



will make her cry her eyes out!

What's up with my baby? Was your baby also scared of specific toys?

[Anonymous]

Not toys but she was scared of a lot of things. Vacuum cleaners, men with beards, Teletubbies, owls, windshield wipers, the list goes on and on. She's much older now and she's fine but she still worries a lot.

[Anonymous]

My son was also scared of a number of things, including toys (I remember him hiding behind me when he spotted a particular new toy sitting on the coffee table). Now at 4.5 years he's not scared of very many things, but he's a pretty cautious kid overall--only this late in the year is he exploring the monkey bars on his school playground, for example. On the plus side, his innate caution has made him very easy to keep safe. I never worry about him running into the street (though of course I always have my eye on him); when he was learning stairs he was adamant about using "the safe way" (the backwards crawl) for every descent.

[Anonymous]

Your daughter is an infant. Every experience is new to her. She sounds like she has a cautious temperament. That's not going to change. How do you react when she gets fearful? Don't make a big deal, just whisk the toy away. You can try to re-introduce the toy in a couple of weeks. It's not going to be a permanent fear, and at her age, a toy she doesn't like the first time may be fascinating or not scary at all in two weeks or six weeks.

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

One of my children was also this way. 5:34 is right on the money. I would add that you should not shy away from introducing new things, or try to anticipate what will scare your child. After trial and error (and too much overprotecting) I found that trying new things and new toys calmly and carefully was the key. For us it was loud noises that took the longest to get used to- DC still hates those, but has learned coping skills.

[Anonymous]

DS is the same way. At 1, we could literally line up toys he was afraid of and use them as baby gates. He steered completely clear of them. He had one old fashioned plastic dog (I think it's fisher price lil' snoopy or something like it) and we couldn't even walk by it in the toy aisle without him freaking out. The playskool busy ball popper was another object of great fear. We had to put them all in the attic. Fast forward a year and he isn't afraid of those old toys anymore, but he is afraid of some of his newer ones (a tonka dump truck that talks, a remote control Thomas train).

His pediatrician said it was normal and good that he is cautious.

[Anonymous]

Mine was scared of cows too. Still is, at 21 months.

[Anonymous]

This is great news guys! Thank you so much!