Why do some fears surface later?
Gardner has suddenly developed an extreme fear of the vacuum cleaner. I have no idea how or why this has happened. I was always so careful to vacuum when he was awake, even when he was a tiny infant. I would set him in his bouncer in the center of the dining room, and set to work. I would vacuum all around him, and with time, it even even lulled him to sleep (how, I'll never know).
Even later, when he learned to walk, he would follow me with utmost curiosity as I pushed the vacuum cleaner from room to room. He would pick up the attachments that fell off along the way (those things never do stay on), and he would not go off and do his own thing again until it was once again tucked away in the hall closet.
Suddenly, though, last week, I turned it on to clean up some cracker crumbs. In seconds, he was scrambling to the corner of the room, hugging the wall, crying hysterically. Only when I shut it off did he subside.
I am trying a psychological approach, now, though I can't remember what it's called. I have left it out in the open for two days now, letting him walk around it, touch it, push its buttons, all with it unplugged, of course. I am hoping this exposure will quell his misgivings about the noise it makes when I decide to actually use it again. We'll see.
Anyone else's toddler suddenly develop a fear? What did you do? Is it just a stage, or is something more serious?
Even later, when he learned to walk, he would follow me with utmost curiosity as I pushed the vacuum cleaner from room to room. He would pick up the attachments that fell off along the way (those things never do stay on), and he would not go off and do his own thing again until it was once again tucked away in the hall closet.
Suddenly, though, last week, I turned it on to clean up some cracker crumbs. In seconds, he was scrambling to the corner of the room, hugging the wall, crying hysterically. Only when I shut it off did he subside.
I am trying a psychological approach, now, though I can't remember what it's called. I have left it out in the open for two days now, letting him walk around it, touch it, push its buttons, all with it unplugged, of course. I am hoping this exposure will quell his misgivings about the noise it makes when I decide to actually use it again. We'll see.
Anyone else's toddler suddenly develop a fear? What did you do? Is it just a stage, or is something more serious?
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