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baby fear

gprime11gprime11 Posts: 228
edited November -1 in Parenting and Life
A few days ago we went to someone's house and they had a cat. Q froze and then started shaking, groaning, and eventually crying. At 6 months, this is the first time I have seen him truly scared. He doesn't even have any stranger danger yet. I picked him up and calmed him down but the cat walked by again and the reaction happened again. My cat passed away while pregnant, so we don't have one at home, but today on our walk one was in a yard and he went ballistic! Is this normal? How do I help him overcome this? We can't avoid cats all the time. They are all over the neighborhood and I was really hoping to get another one some day soon :(

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    K&HK&H Posts: 3,368 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Don't assume this will last forever! He's right at the age to find fear, so it could easily just be a phase!
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    ShannyShanny Posts: 2,456
    edited November -1
    ^very true. Or you could spend the next 6 years avoiding characters, er I mean cats....

    Could go either way. But honestly, if you want a cat someday I'd get it sooner than later so he gets used to it being around versus getting used to the feeling of fear when he sees one. Just my opinion.
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    ZenZen Posts: 2,942
    edited November -1
    Shiloh went through an animal fear stage about a year or so ago (much older than your little one). She was fine with going up to dogs that were lying down calmly but if one came up to her she started shrieking and crying. It has mostly passed. She'd still rather them wait for her to initiate contact but panic has dimished to mild dislike.

    It's really odd too because I'm an animal lover and I did supply half of her genetic make up!
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    aplusaaplusa Posts: 1,919
    edited August 2014
    I took the boys to the zoo for the first time about a month ago. They were 9 months. I was thinking - "do they even know what's going on?" We walked in front of the panda enclosure and it happened to be waking right in front of us. It is just a glass enclosure. The panda was maybe 12" away.

    Luca freaked out! I quickly took him away, but I was so pleased that he's aware that there's a gigantic hulking beast he doesn't recognize.

    As for a fear of cats? I'm terrified of them, so your son sounds incredibly sensible. ;)
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    melmel Posts: 793
    edited November -1
    Shanny wrote:
    ^very true. Or you could spend the next 6 years avoiding characters, er I mean cats....

    Kate is smart. I've avoided those freaky things for 38.5 years.
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    ShannyShanny Posts: 2,456
    edited November -1
    Mel - It was all good when I got to avoid places like Disney and CEC, but now it is interfering with sports and Mama is losing patience! She lost her mind at the Yankees/Rangers game (though eventually calmed down and had a blast), lost it at Bills training camp (after she high-fived the guy!) and is now refusing to go to Houston with me for a Bills/Texans game I had been planning for my birthday. Her fear is very real and palpable but for the love of sports she's almost 6!!!

    A friend of mine has volunteered to wear a costume so he can take off the head and show her it is him/not scary (he's one of her favorite people!). But I'm thinking she would have a genuine heart stoppage if a giant character ever entered our house!

    Sorry for the thread-jack!
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    melmel Posts: 793
    edited November -1
    When I worked at a bakery in FW, my colleagues knew of my fear and got the stupid bear mascot to come IN MY OFFICE and I was trapped when it was in the doorway and I almost died. Don't do that to Kate. So she's just as afraid at a sporting event if they're far away? It doesn't really bother me if I know they can't get to me. But I totally watch over my shoulder at CEC because NO.
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    gprime11gprime11 Posts: 228
    edited November -1
    lol...you guys are not helping my concern :) I do not want him to be afraid of cats in 30 years, at least not to the point he is now. Maybe we will just camp out at the pet store adoption day every month and do a little desensitization. I have a fear of chickens, but those are pretty easy to avoid, unlike cats, and apparently characters.
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    ShannyShanny Posts: 2,456
    edited November -1
    Yeah Mel, I won't be doing that to her. She does seem to be better if they are far away and I can convince her they can't come close. But I'm not always sure that is the case and I don't want to lie, have them get close and have her not trust me. After "Billy Buffalo" wandered off at training camp and she was still losing it I didn't want to tell her he was gone for this exact reason. My Dad just said he's gone and she totally calmed down. Luckily he never came back so we didn't have to deal with her not trusting Grampa! It's interesting to say the least.
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    michelle.malottmichelle.malott Posts: 107
    edited November -1
    One of my daycare kids was afraid of my dog, sounds similar to your son, we got over it by me holding the little guy while petting the dog. I talked him through it, and it took a few weeks for him to be ok, but now he loves the dog and plays with her all the time.
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    ZenZen Posts: 2,942
    edited November -1
    Sorry for the thread-jack ...

    Shanny -- with Kate, could you have your friend come over in street clothes and then get into costume with Kate watching? Maybe then she wouldn't be afraid?
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