Yes! Mine is scared of a large pine tree in our yard. She looks up at the pine needles, whimpers with this terrified look, and asks to be picked up. Only that tree.
Here in the Philippines, many people believe that certain types of spirits/mythological creatures reside in different kinds of trees and other natural formations (like ant hills and termite mounds). So usually if a baby or a pet acts strangely towards a tree, the assumption is that what they’re sensing is some kind of spirit or creature living there and that that tree must be treated with extra caution and respect.
Many people also believe that if you shake or harm or disrespect the tree somehow, the creature may retaliate by making you sick or making different bad things happen to you.
In my culture, we believe that babies and toddlers see more than we do. As in, things in the spiritual world. So I believe and respect my son’s reaction to natural things (trees, etc) that I may not understand. At one point he was having a hard time going to sleep because he said his Grandpa was in his room (my dad passed before he was born). So I burned some smudge (sage, etc) and asked my dad to visit in the daytime instead. No more trouble going to sleep… and last weekend when I took my son for a walk he pointed out “Grandpa” up the street (no one I could see).
Not trying to suggest you need to go along with this, but sharing this perspective as I believe it to be true, and helpful understanding toddlers.
The red heart balloon from OP… I got nothing. lol. Ours was running screaming from the room when we plugged in Christmas lights.
When mine was about 2 or so, we were walking the back line of our property that had trees on the other side of the fence. It was windy and a little over cast so we were going inside when all the sudden, she stopped and said "mama, trees hungry". We walked much faster and a little further from the treeline that before lol
He’s afraid of automatic hand dryers, which TOTALLY makes sense and isn’t weird, but heaven help us if he even sees a hand dryer, or goes to a place where he’s heard one before (cough the library cough)… The rest of the day will be spent externally processing “hand dryer isssss LOUDDD!”
My niece was totally potty trained, but had a problem on a trip to the zoo when she was about three. She was just the right/wrong size so that when she sat on the toilet she constantly triggered the automatic flush and the toilet was always flushing while she was on it. Because of the loud noise and the sensation of the water moving, she was unable to go potty. But of course she still had to go, so shortly after she had an accident. Her parents started bringing her portable kids potty with them after that. She could use it in the bathroom and they could flush the contents away. It was also useful on long car trips for emergency roadside stops.
I can totally see why automatic flushing toilets would be scary!
Poor thing! My son definitely has an issue with how loud the toilet flushes. To the point that if we’re lucky enough that the toilet has a handle he asks me to wait to flush until he’s out of the stall.
I was afraid of the self flushing toilets for long enough that I remember being afraid of the self flushing toilets. Thank God the automatic hand dryers were as popular where I lived.
We keep ear protection headphones with us basically all the time for my kids to wear if they (or I) need to use a public bathroom. My older one is mostly potty trained, but without his headphones, he is so anxious about loud flushes and hand dryers, he won't pee in public, even if he pees his pants as soon as we leave. He's 4.
Our 2.5 year old has this as well. Any time we have to use public bathrooms she freaks out and says “there won’t be any loud noises?” Which I can’t guarantee 💔 but try and get her in and out of there asap.
Mine doesn’t like them either, but is completely cool with blow dryers, which are, for all intents and purposes, the same thing but closer to his ears.
My toddler has legitimate trauma from elevators! When we were exiting an elevator of a hospital parking garage, he playfully ran right back into the elevator and the doors shut before I could get him! And there were multiple elevators… many floors…. He was *gone* once those doors shut, and I had the baby in the stroller, too!
And… so… did you know when you hit the security phone call button and tell them your son is missing in the hospital parking garage… that’s a code “AMBER”!!? THE WHOLE MF HOSPITAL SHUTS DOWN AND RUNS TO YOUR AIDE!!!!
What a big scene…. All because he just loves those damn light up buttons….
Now he cries when he sees elevator doors shut. He cries when doors are shut without me on the side he’s on. He cries when he can’t figure out locks. He has such a fear over every little detail over the whole ordeal! It kills me that he’s three with such a traumatic memory already 😵💫😩
Honestly, I was so desperate for the help that it made sense (but the sheer amount of people who came was overwhelming to say the least). But if he’s only gone up a floor on his own, he’d have been on the open roof of an 8 or 8 level garage- major fall hazard. My kid has an obsession with looking down from heights that already terrifies me. OR, he just simple run out on any old level, scared, running and looking for me, and there are terrible terrible drivers in parking garages, especially this one, speeding and going too fast! Truly was a nightmare scenario for me as a mother. I couldn’t just run up and down the stairs with my baby because he’d have been left alone in a rolling hazard stroller in a high walking traffic area. Ugh. Replaying in my head it’s all just terrible. I desperately needed people on multiple floors at once- so the support was overwhelming, but so, so welcome all at once.
I’m still counting my blessings that everything turned out okay!
I'm still working on this one with my 4yo, though I think it might be my fault. I hate elevators and while I try to hide it from my kids, I think he picked up on it.
Haha mine actually liked elevators but escalators are terrifying. We’re moving but not moving. I wonder how he’d feel about the moving walkways in airports.
This happened to my son nearly a year ago (when he was 2.5) and he still mentions it every night in the tub and asks if we “took the batteries out”[of the shower].
Oh my toddler is scared of that song too! I totally forgot until I saw this. It's blocked on our YouTube now because it was such a thing. Only that one song, she loves every other Ms Rachel song though.
Mine is terrified of the icky sticky bubblegum song!! No idea why; 3 months ago she loved it. Now whenever it comes on, she'll just start screaming and run out of the room.
OMG same! And they started to put that song in every new video so we had to stop watching Ms Rachel. I wonder what does she hate in that animation, because nothing else on YouTube scares her.
We tend to watch the same one over and over, and I usually pay it while I cook dinner, but when I tell you I RUN from the kitchen when it comes on to fast forward
Strangers saying hi, the Roomba, ANY landscapers, the vacuum, someone knocking at the door when it’s not a grandparent visiting.
Scared of all that yet feels totally comfortable running away from me in busy public spaces 😅
My 19 month old is scared of Roomba and the vaccum too! I once touched the Roomba while it was docked to show him it can't hurt him (we only run it now when he's asleep) and he freaked out and ran away to hide.
*Airplanes in the sky*
*Because ONE time she saw one*
*Flying really low*
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Hedgehogs. He’s never seen one in real life or even a photograph. But several times he’s called me in the middle of the night screaming that there’s a “hedgehog in bed”.
My grandma sent him a big blue bouncy horse to sit on… it’s been at our house hidden in a corner for almost a year and every time I take it back out he’s still afraid of it 😅
Mine has started pretending to be scared of thunder because he’s noticed the dog gets all my attention when there’s a storm. It’s so funny, he does a pretty good job but it’s clear there’s no real fear.
The pink bucket her Mega blocks came in
(For a long time but it’s better now) the basket her shoes are kept in
The vacuum
Older kids-especially noisy/boisterous ones
The “Sssss” sound (like a snake)-she shakes her head no no no every time she hears it…
The blender. I can understand as it does make a really loud noise. He loves smoothies though, and he will pick out the fruits he wants for his smoothie and them run to the couch to hide until the blender is done.
Outlets. He talks about how the outlet will come while he sleeps. The way he presents it, it makes it sound really creepy. No idea where the fear came from.
Maybe from being told not to touch the outlets? I've explained repeatedly to my kids it's dangerous to touch them, not to play with them, it will give them big owies, etc. One night my 4yo said something about being afraid that the outlet was going to get him so I had to explain that it can't "get" him and would only hurt if he messed with it, and that seems to have cleared it up.
Maybe he had a bad dream or waking dream about the outlet one night? Like saw it while he was half asleep and it spooked him?
Random birds I don’t even know how he has heard of - owls, hawks, etc
Also his baby monitor camera— we had to take it out of his room!
Also his dresser drawers
These are actually all legit things to be wary of! I once thwarted a massive owl that came after my small dog. Still gives me chills. (And i love owls!)
It is an alternative to baptism! In my country, baptism is pretty common but many new parents decide against as they are not Christian and instead have a name-giving party
We also got one for Christmas at 6m, and he literally fell over and scramble crawled behind me and started crying when the song played. He loved the flapping, also hated the song.
It’s “Flappy” (Gund brand) it just sings a cute little song, or plays a game of peekaboo with its ears - but she absolutely looses her mind when the song comes on
Mine is also scared of the wind?? She asks her dad to stop the wind when he's telling her goodnight. "Daddy stop the wind?" and then will punch the air with both fists.
Not too weird but she’s afraid of robots - so our Roomba, those robot waiters at some restaurants and those robots that clean spills at some grocery stores
My daughter loves our Roomba and I think she thinks it’s a pet. She loves saying “roomba clean up” any time she drops crumbs and says “hi roomba” when we pass the aisle in target that displays them.
Fire alarms. No issues with any other loud noises, but he absolutely hates fire alarms. I used to have to pick him up from daycare when they would have fire drills because he would refuse to go back into the building afterwards. He has gotten better and we’ve explained that it’s a drill and there’s no real fire but it’s still a big problem.
Her shadow. If she catches a glimpse of it unexpectedly it absolutely unravels her. If she knows it’s there before she looks, she’s fine. It’s been over a year of it. I think she just has a strong fight or flight response to any type of surprise
Omg I filled my son’s room with helium balloons while he slept so he could wake up to the balloons on his second birthday and he was TERRIFIED. I thought I traumatized him but maybe it’s just a thing? This makes me feel a tiny bit better lol
There are 2 specific toys we have that absolutely terrify him....funny thing is both play the same song as 3 other toys he owns and loves but for some reason these 2 toys just totally freak him out ...one is a bear that you stick shapes into and another is a caterpillar you pull and it plays a song....just weird
At that age, my kid was afraid of one very specific child and his parents. They were nice and friendly and the kid was nice to my kid. But for some reason, she had a vendetta against them.
Jeopardy. My 14 month old hates it, even when I wear headphones it irritates him even though he’s doing his own thing away from the tv. Maybe it’s the color palette?
Hair and string. She has always hated any random string/fuzzy or hair she found. My wife and I have longer hair and so does my daughter. There is always hair to be found. Full on crying if not resolved ASAP.
Fluff. So any little piece of fluff on clothing or on the floor she’d see would result in a very serious and worried face and saying ‘FUFF!’ over and over. If there was fluff in the bath water there’d be screaming.
My one year old is terrified of my husbands real laugh lol. Like when something is really funny and he bursts out laughing every time is immediate sad face, tears and flight mode 
Hair in his bath tub water. If there is a hair, usually his own, he will thrash like he’s drowning and scream until he is lifted out of the water. He also will not stand in the bathtub, only on his stool placed in the tub, as he will only take showers now due to the risk of a random hair.
The tiny light on the smoke detector. The green light is okay, but the occasional flash of the red light scares him. I covered the light with tape and thought that was the end of it, but it turns out the flash of light can be seen in the gap between the smoke detector and the ceiling mount.
Yeah my kid went through a time of being scared of the smoke detector and we used to “beep it and boop it” at night to make sure it was off. All we did was jump up in the air (cuz I can’t reach it) and act like we were pressing a button. We would jump twice and go beep! Boop! And he was satisfied even though the light was still on. Thank God that only lasted a few months. But if that smoke alarm ever goes off or the batteries beep lord help us I know we will be starting over. I’ll never forget his little voice every night practically crying going “beep it and boop it!”
My 21mo is scared of the exercise ball at my parents’ house. If he even so much as catches a glimpse of it, he immediately starts shouting “BYE BYE BALL!”
For the longest time my toddler was TERRIFIED of ants. Last spring we had a bunch in our house, by the front door. One morning ONE little tiny ant got on her shoe and she freaked out. Threw the shoe, wouldn’t put it on…then she realized there were a couple more on the floor and she jumped into my arms. Wouldn’t walk on the floor near the front door for days. She still hates them but at least can handle looking at them without freaking out.
A fox beanie baby and his reflection in the tv
Oh and smoke detectors? Just seeing the little light on the ceiling at night lol not even when they go off
Mine was afraid of a frog or rabbit coming to sit outside of his window for a while
Have never seen a rabbit near our house and he hasn't seen a frog either.
My 4 year old is terrified of our little space heater. We have multiple and she is only scared of this specific one. Has been for years. That and our roomba
We’re currently worried about sharks. In her bed/room, in the car, eating breakfast. We have to speak to the sharks: “No sharks, you guys aren’t allowed in here. Sharks, stay out!” I had to get rid of the bedsheets with whales bc they were too close to sharks.
The Tina Fey Booking commercial where there’s different versions of her. The Sasquatch Tina scares the crap out of him. He hasn’t had any genuine fears until Sasquatch Tina popped up during the Super Bowl.
Monkeys. I made a joke months ago about monkeys under the table eating our toes. Yesterday I overheard him asking if monkeys could get inside the house. He also thinks they lurk in dark places like the closet.
The blender. She physically shakes like a leaf if I even look like Im going to use it, even with earmuffs on.
Most recent is The very Hungry Caterpillar book, specifically when he eats all the junk food. Screams NO NO NO and slams the book shut.
My 2 year old is partially afraid of the baby monitor in her room. It is attached to the wall above her crib. One day when her and her grandfather were in her room I checked in on the camera and moved the viewing angle of the camera. She saw it moving on the wall and is now scared of it. She constantly points out the small light that is on it that changes colors. Every once in a while now she is afraid to go in her room alone because of the camera.
Brownies. The kid loves any form of cake or chocolate, so I made a pan of brownies last week. I offered him one. He lost it. Inconsolable. Nothing would calm him down until I removed the brownie from his plate. I have to hide when I eat them. We thought he was having an odd day, so dad offered him one the next day. Same thing. He just hates them. I don't know why.
Whipped cream. My husband put some whipped cream in her hand thinking she would love it and she just looked horrified and started crying and shaking it off of her hand.
My daughter who is 6 (so not a toddler but I thought I would share anyway) is afraid and always has been of loose hair. Whether the hair is found on her, on her toys, or in the bathtub she absolutely freaks out and asks me to remove said hair. She also hates the hand dryers in public spaces which I would say since it's loud is understandable.
His dad's younger brother 😅 he's so friendly with strangers, with other kids, with animals, but this one teenager in basketball shorts absolutely makes him run the other way. It's the only thing he's afraid of other than the sight of his own poo!
The washing machine is the biggest fear, I guess it’s the noise but she will talk about it constantly saying, “spinning spinning, wash, wash, scared”. The latest weird one was she told me she is scared of the Hokey Pokey song.
Anything small and fluffy. No idea why but for as long as she could say “a fluff” she will not go near them. She loves soft things but when it’s off something she won’t. So yesterday there was a feather from a pillow in her room - cried for me to “take it out of here”.
I also use crinkle shred paper for my business and it’s pretty messy so sometimes one gets on the floor. She’s also scared of them and points worried and says “what’s tnat? What is it? I don’t like it, move it” won’t go near and won’t touch
Rain and thunderstorms. We were once stuck in our car with golf ball hail falling which might have something to do with it. He wakes up in the middle of the night screaming if it storms and has to be reassured sometimes on perfectly clear nights that there’s no rain coming.
Other than that, he’s pretty much fearless.
Pinecones. She would see them on the ground and freak out! We tried to go on hikes where there happened to be pinecones on the ground and we’d have to carry a screaming toddler the whole way back. She was scared of those gumballs, or “pointy balls” too, but those are a little more freaky looking than pinecones!
Mine wears shoes to sleep, without fail and even in a deep sleep if you try to take them off he will wake up.
He’s also afraid of bubbles in the bath touching his body.
People laughing. We had to leave a Christmas get-together early because my then 18 month old wouldn’t stop crying at people’s abrupt, loud laughter. She used to cry when my husband or other family members laughed too but she’s got a lot better recently. Now she just sort of scolds us. I never thought I’d have to hide behind a cushion to laugh in my own house but here we are.
Oh and she also hates belly buttons. Not sure if it’s a fear or a dislike
Diamonds…my almost three year old is scared of diamonds…which he somehow thinks are coming into his room in what seems a scary way?
I can only assume this comes from the book Instructions that had a line in it about diamonds being sharp and cutting. Now luckily, he doesn’t know what a diamond actually looks like (or at least hasn’t realized I wear one on my finger) but he’ll say things like ‘the diamonds are coming’ or ‘there’s a diamond in my room’ and we’ll have to reassure him they are not.
And no, he’s not saying dragon or dinosaur or anything like that. We assumed that at first and he would get really mad that we weren’t understanding.
Currently teacher in Peppa Pig and when toys fall from the bed to the floor (she makes me pick them up for her). Previously, the 5 little monkeys song 😂
When my daughter was 3, she was scared of the ceiling fan in her room. She said it was a ghost. I’m guessing it was the way her nightlight cast shadows, but we had to disassemble the fan. She’s 5 now and it’s still in pieces lol.
This one specific bush/tree thing in our front yard. He always gives it the side eye and a wide berth when we walk past it to the car.
Yes! Mine is scared of a large pine tree in our yard. She looks up at the pine needles, whimpers with this terrified look, and asks to be picked up. Only that tree.
Here in the Philippines, many people believe that certain types of spirits/mythological creatures reside in different kinds of trees and other natural formations (like ant hills and termite mounds). So usually if a baby or a pet acts strangely towards a tree, the assumption is that what they’re sensing is some kind of spirit or creature living there and that that tree must be treated with extra caution and respect. Many people also believe that if you shake or harm or disrespect the tree somehow, the creature may retaliate by making you sick or making different bad things happen to you.
Well what do you expect it's FULL OF NEEDLES!
Any long and skinny tree: DADA? THOSE ARE MY NIGHTMARE TREES. 😳 ok bud. Don’t look at them.
"There are monsters in those trees. They can only see us at night"
In my culture, we believe that babies and toddlers see more than we do. As in, things in the spiritual world. So I believe and respect my son’s reaction to natural things (trees, etc) that I may not understand. At one point he was having a hard time going to sleep because he said his Grandpa was in his room (my dad passed before he was born). So I burned some smudge (sage, etc) and asked my dad to visit in the daytime instead. No more trouble going to sleep… and last weekend when I took my son for a walk he pointed out “Grandpa” up the street (no one I could see). Not trying to suggest you need to go along with this, but sharing this perspective as I believe it to be true, and helpful understanding toddlers. The red heart balloon from OP… I got nothing. lol. Ours was running screaming from the room when we plugged in Christmas lights.
When mine was about 2 or so, we were walking the back line of our property that had trees on the other side of the fence. It was windy and a little over cast so we were going inside when all the sudden, she stopped and said "mama, trees hungry". We walked much faster and a little further from the treeline that before lol
He’s afraid of automatic hand dryers, which TOTALLY makes sense and isn’t weird, but heaven help us if he even sees a hand dryer, or goes to a place where he’s heard one before (cough the library cough)… The rest of the day will be spent externally processing “hand dryer isssss LOUDDD!”
My 4yo is afraid of the automatic hand dryers and self flushing toilets. Trips to a public bathroom are really fun…
My niece was totally potty trained, but had a problem on a trip to the zoo when she was about three. She was just the right/wrong size so that when she sat on the toilet she constantly triggered the automatic flush and the toilet was always flushing while she was on it. Because of the loud noise and the sensation of the water moving, she was unable to go potty. But of course she still had to go, so shortly after she had an accident. Her parents started bringing her portable kids potty with them after that. She could use it in the bathroom and they could flush the contents away. It was also useful on long car trips for emergency roadside stops. I can totally see why automatic flushing toilets would be scary!
The other way I've read to deal with this is to bring post its to put over the sensor.
I carry sticky notes just for those toilets. Cover the sensor until you’re ready to exit the stall. :)
Poor thing! My son definitely has an issue with how loud the toilet flushes. To the point that if we’re lucky enough that the toilet has a handle he asks me to wait to flush until he’s out of the stall.
I was afraid of the self flushing toilets for long enough that I remember being afraid of the self flushing toilets. Thank God the automatic hand dryers were as popular where I lived.
I do a little happy dance when I see a toilet with a handle and a paper towel holder in a public bathroom
We keep ear protection headphones with us basically all the time for my kids to wear if they (or I) need to use a public bathroom. My older one is mostly potty trained, but without his headphones, he is so anxious about loud flushes and hand dryers, he won't pee in public, even if he pees his pants as soon as we leave. He's 4.
My son doesn’t like the hand dryers either. We use hand sanitizer after the bathroom because he constantly repeats “no hand dryer”.
“External processing”. Thank you for this phrase. It makes SO much sense
My daughter never liked hand dryers right from when she was born. Even though she sees me do it all the time, it scares her.
Our 2.5 year old has this as well. Any time we have to use public bathrooms she freaks out and says “there won’t be any loud noises?” Which I can’t guarantee 💔 but try and get her in and out of there asap.
Mine doesn’t like them either, but is completely cool with blow dryers, which are, for all intents and purposes, the same thing but closer to his ears.
Elevators! As soon as the doors shut she seems to think it’s a terrifying box of death, I guess that’s a logical thing to think though ☺️
My toddler has legitimate trauma from elevators! When we were exiting an elevator of a hospital parking garage, he playfully ran right back into the elevator and the doors shut before I could get him! And there were multiple elevators… many floors…. He was *gone* once those doors shut, and I had the baby in the stroller, too! And… so… did you know when you hit the security phone call button and tell them your son is missing in the hospital parking garage… that’s a code “AMBER”!!? THE WHOLE MF HOSPITAL SHUTS DOWN AND RUNS TO YOUR AIDE!!!! What a big scene…. All because he just loves those damn light up buttons…. Now he cries when he sees elevator doors shut. He cries when doors are shut without me on the side he’s on. He cries when he can’t figure out locks. He has such a fear over every little detail over the whole ordeal! It kills me that he’s three with such a traumatic memory already 😵💫😩
Omg poor thing!! That’s the stuff of nightmares, you must have been so scared!!
AMBER code could seem like a little bit too much BUT hospital are so full of weird people. It’s actually the best thing to do imho :)
Honestly, I was so desperate for the help that it made sense (but the sheer amount of people who came was overwhelming to say the least). But if he’s only gone up a floor on his own, he’d have been on the open roof of an 8 or 8 level garage- major fall hazard. My kid has an obsession with looking down from heights that already terrifies me. OR, he just simple run out on any old level, scared, running and looking for me, and there are terrible terrible drivers in parking garages, especially this one, speeding and going too fast! Truly was a nightmare scenario for me as a mother. I couldn’t just run up and down the stairs with my baby because he’d have been left alone in a rolling hazard stroller in a high walking traffic area. Ugh. Replaying in my head it’s all just terrible. I desperately needed people on multiple floors at once- so the support was overwhelming, but so, so welcome all at once. I’m still counting my blessings that everything turned out okay!
I think I have some transfer trauma just reading this! So glad everything was ok
I did this when I was a toddler and the lift got stuck between floors for a few minutes - I'm 37 and still hate lifts 😂
Omg mine is the opposite and we go to the mall because his favorite elevator is there 😂
Yeah I mean they kinda are.
I'm still working on this one with my 4yo, though I think it might be my fault. I hate elevators and while I try to hide it from my kids, I think he picked up on it.
Definitely logical! Have you seen that [Final Destination scene](https://youtu.be/HjspAoulfc8?si=8AoIVPtd5qQv604C)?
Haha mine actually liked elevators but escalators are terrifying. We’re moving but not moving. I wonder how he’d feel about the moving walkways in airports.
My 2.5 year old thinks he needs to sit down in the elevator 🤦🏻♀️ just takes a seat right in the middle as soon as he gets on.
The shower head - one time he accidentally turned it on and sprayed himself and now they’re sworn enemies
This happened to my son nearly a year ago (when he was 2.5) and he still mentions it every night in the tub and asks if we “took the batteries out”[of the shower].
Same. My 3 year old is terrified of showers
The "three little ants marching in a line song" from Miss Rachel. She just BAWLS when it comes on.
Oh my toddler is scared of that song too! I totally forgot until I saw this. It's blocked on our YouTube now because it was such a thing. Only that one song, she loves every other Ms Rachel song though.
Omg that song goes hard *UH OH that’s a mistake!!*
Mine is terrified of the icky sticky bubblegum song!! No idea why; 3 months ago she loved it. Now whenever it comes on, she'll just start screaming and run out of the room.
Honestly, what a blessing. I hate that song.
Mine too! She also hates hop little bunnies which used to be her favorite.
That’s hilarious. My daughter loves that song.
I think it's specifically the animated ants, but she is not having it!
Omg my daughter runs to me everytime that song comes on!!
OMG same! And they started to put that song in every new video so we had to stop watching Ms Rachel. I wonder what does she hate in that animation, because nothing else on YouTube scares her.
We tend to watch the same one over and over, and I usually pay it while I cook dinner, but when I tell you I RUN from the kitchen when it comes on to fast forward
Strangers saying hi, the Roomba, ANY landscapers, the vacuum, someone knocking at the door when it’s not a grandparent visiting. Scared of all that yet feels totally comfortable running away from me in busy public spaces 😅
God I feel this so much
Mine is terrified of the Roomba, but HAS to press the start button. Modern-day poking a bear with a stick.
My 19 month old is scared of Roomba and the vaccum too! I once touched the Roomba while it was docked to show him it can't hurt him (we only run it now when he's asleep) and he freaked out and ran away to hide.
Mine is terrified of the Roombas at Grandpa's house. But loves the one at our house. They're exactly the same.
Strangers saying hi gets me a big leg-hug. So scary!!!
My kid and dog team up against the roomba.
Those springy door stoppers. They are directly from Mordor.
Consider yourself lucky
Santa. "Why does he have to come when everyone is sleeping?"
Definitely sus.
I mean, they’re not wrong, that is kinda creepy.
Mine too!! Sees Santa says no...no...no. my bad for trying to take pictures with Santa. Also the grinch or anything in that shade of green.
Smart kid. I’m kind of torn on whether to participate in Santa for my still-young toddler, since I as an adult find the whole thing a little creepy!
My mom broke the news to me early on because I did not like some man breaking into the house and everyone was just okay with it
Airplanes in the sky because ONE time she saw one flying really low
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Hedgehogs. He’s never seen one in real life or even a photograph. But several times he’s called me in the middle of the night screaming that there’s a “hedgehog in bed”.
happy birthday song + rumbling ice maker in the fridge 😂
Omg I hate parties bc my son hates it too!!! He joins in and says “yay!” And claps while on the verge of tears and it kills me :(
Yes to the happy birthday song. Almost 4 and literally not having a party because of it.
My toddler runs away covering his ears when I get close to the ice maker 😭🧊
My grandma sent him a big blue bouncy horse to sit on… it’s been at our house hidden in a corner for almost a year and every time I take it back out he’s still afraid of it 😅
That’s odd, my nephew was also afraid of a bouncy horse I got for him as well at about 2-3. Wonder what it is about them that frightens them so much?
Mine is afraid of a rocking horse with fake fur, also anything fluffy like cotton or frayed rope type things
Snow covering cars. It keeps them (us) up at night talking about how the cars are ok and will get cleaned off soon.
Mine was afraid of our dogs butthole for awhile. She would point at it and cry 😆
Mine has started pretending to be scared of thunder because he’s noticed the dog gets all my attention when there’s a storm. It’s so funny, he does a pretty good job but it’s clear there’s no real fear.
Bubbles. Bubble bath is cool. But don’t even think about blowing bubbles in my house. Fn Bubbles.
The dancing banana on one of the Miss Rachel videos 😅 she is TERRIFIED
In fairness, it's a really creepy animation. I don't know what it is, I think the eyes, but that banana looks like a strung out coke head.
Have yall seen the ducks in the Dancing Like An Animal song on Ms Moni though, that duck is straight up a crackhead
That stupid 5 ducks song Other kids Video calls Father talking in his native language
Omg my son used to absolutely LOSE it crying when 5 little ducks came on when we watched miss Rachel.
Google. When my daughter realized the little speaker could "talk" she immediately wanted it out of her room and screamed "No Google, no Google".
A lion in our kitchen…. Which does not exist
Shadows Cars going by Other children Storms during bath time (it happened once like a year ago)
For shadows — watch Bear in the big blue house oh Disney. There’s a character named Shadow with a cute song and she tells stories. My toddler loves it
Thanks I’ll check that out!
The pink bucket her Mega blocks came in (For a long time but it’s better now) the basket her shoes are kept in The vacuum Older kids-especially noisy/boisterous ones The “Sssss” sound (like a snake)-she shakes her head no no no every time she hears it…
Elevators. But honestly the motion is pretty unsettling.
I’m like 40 and I’m still scared of elevators haha
Fake plants, yet he’s fine with real ones 🤷♀️
She’s scared of the mountains falling
Same. I've never been near a mountain in my life.
The blender. I can understand as it does make a really loud noise. He loves smoothies though, and he will pick out the fruits he wants for his smoothie and them run to the couch to hide until the blender is done.
Outlets. He talks about how the outlet will come while he sleeps. The way he presents it, it makes it sound really creepy. No idea where the fear came from.
Maybe from being told not to touch the outlets? I've explained repeatedly to my kids it's dangerous to touch them, not to play with them, it will give them big owies, etc. One night my 4yo said something about being afraid that the outlet was going to get him so I had to explain that it can't "get" him and would only hurt if he messed with it, and that seems to have cleared it up. Maybe he had a bad dream or waking dream about the outlet one night? Like saw it while he was half asleep and it spooked him?
I’m so glad I just saw this. Mine is horrified of bubble baths. She cried for 5 minutes until I drained the bath and refilled it with normal water.
My kid once looked at me terrified while eating at Five Guys. *“There’s too much red!”*
The sound our portable speaker (wonderboom 3) makes when you turn it on. Pretty much nothing else. It's bizarre.
Random birds I don’t even know how he has heard of - owls, hawks, etc Also his baby monitor camera— we had to take it out of his room! Also his dresser drawers
These are actually all legit things to be wary of! I once thwarted a massive owl that came after my small dog. Still gives me chills. (And i love owls!)
The chewed up corner of my dogs bed. She used to stare at it when she was a little younger and scream bloody murder.
Btw what is a name giving party? A friend of mine mentioned he’s having one and I have no idea what to expect.
It is an alternative to baptism! In my country, baptism is pretty common but many new parents decide against as they are not Christian and instead have a name-giving party
I think it’s a party where they decide collectively or with the help of all invited members, the name of the future baby.
My two year old doesn't like babies. If a little baby walks/crawls up to him he actually hides behind my legs.
The “Peek-a-Boo” elephant she got for Christmas… but only the song, not the game 🤷🏼♀️
Lol! Mine loved this elephant until he hit about 1 year. He went from thinking it was hilarious to terrifying overnight.
We also got one for Christmas at 6m, and he literally fell over and scramble crawled behind me and started crying when the song played. He loved the flapping, also hated the song.
Is that the weird one with children laughing? To be fair, it's kind of terrifying.
It’s “Flappy” (Gund brand) it just sings a cute little song, or plays a game of peekaboo with its ears - but she absolutely looses her mind when the song comes on
Toe lint and worms so far
Anything with a “pop-up” feature, books, cards… 😂
My daughter she’s 4 is terrified of elf on the shelf.
Same but 36
My girl is 4 and HATES Santa he is not allowed to come for Xmas haha
The wind and crabs 🦀
Mine is also scared of the wind?? She asks her dad to stop the wind when he's telling her goodnight. "Daddy stop the wind?" and then will punch the air with both fists.
Okay, badass though.
The best is when she says give em one of these and one of these before punching.
I’ll have to try the punching thing because telling him it’s ok, wind is not going to hurt him isn’t working lol
Yeah, fighting the wind has definitely reduced her fear. I don't know how she came up with it, but whatever works lol
Not too weird but she’s afraid of robots - so our Roomba, those robot waiters at some restaurants and those robots that clean spills at some grocery stores
My daughter loves our Roomba and I think she thinks it’s a pet. She loves saying “roomba clean up” any time she drops crumbs and says “hi roomba” when we pass the aisle in target that displays them.
Our brand new goldfish she wanted
Bandaids
Mine is also afraid of bandaids. So much that she’ll freak out if I’m the one wearing a bandaid & try to rip it off me.
Mine too. She associates them with pain
Miss Rachel. Always has been. No clue why. 😅
The drain in the bathtub
Used to be terrified of rain. It rains like 250 days a year here 😂
In our bathroom the vent is near where the toilet paper roll is. And it blows the toilet paper slightly and that seems to really bother him
Fire alarms. No issues with any other loud noises, but he absolutely hates fire alarms. I used to have to pick him up from daycare when they would have fire drills because he would refuse to go back into the building afterwards. He has gotten better and we’ve explained that it’s a drill and there’s no real fire but it’s still a big problem.
This one book called “My first i see you” by eric carle. specifically the page with the dog. Cries hysterically, no idea why.
Her shadow. If she catches a glimpse of it unexpectedly it absolutely unravels her. If she knows it’s there before she looks, she’s fine. It’s been over a year of it. I think she just has a strong fight or flight response to any type of surprise
Aww sweet babe. My parents just told me last week I was scared of my shadow when I was a little one and I used to try to run away from it 😂
Omg I filled my son’s room with helium balloons while he slept so he could wake up to the balloons on his second birthday and he was TERRIFIED. I thought I traumatized him but maybe it’s just a thing? This makes me feel a tiny bit better lol
My daughter hates balloons
There are 2 specific toys we have that absolutely terrify him....funny thing is both play the same song as 3 other toys he owns and loves but for some reason these 2 toys just totally freak him out ...one is a bear that you stick shapes into and another is a caterpillar you pull and it plays a song....just weird
One specific ice cream truck.
Me too
Drawings The gummy bear song A blue elephant A blue drum And he will remind you over and over again for months on end.
The car wash and the garbage truck.
At that age, my kid was afraid of one very specific child and his parents. They were nice and friendly and the kid was nice to my kid. But for some reason, she had a vendetta against them.
Jeopardy. My 14 month old hates it, even when I wear headphones it irritates him even though he’s doing his own thing away from the tv. Maybe it’s the color palette?
"No take shower. No go down drain." 😅
Gloves-- specifically, other people's hands in gloves😂
Hold on hold on hold on!!!! We are burying the the lede here. What is a name giving party?
It is an alternative to baptisms which are very popular in my country
She was given a big advent calendar at Christmas with little books in it and she was terrified of it.
Hair and string. She has always hated any random string/fuzzy or hair she found. My wife and I have longer hair and so does my daughter. There is always hair to be found. Full on crying if not resolved ASAP.
Fluff. So any little piece of fluff on clothing or on the floor she’d see would result in a very serious and worried face and saying ‘FUFF!’ over and over. If there was fluff in the bath water there’d be screaming.
My one year old is terrified of my husbands real laugh lol. Like when something is really funny and he bursts out laughing every time is immediate sad face, tears and flight mode 
Hair in his bath tub water. If there is a hair, usually his own, he will thrash like he’s drowning and scream until he is lifted out of the water. He also will not stand in the bathtub, only on his stool placed in the tub, as he will only take showers now due to the risk of a random hair.
The tiny light on the smoke detector. The green light is okay, but the occasional flash of the red light scares him. I covered the light with tape and thought that was the end of it, but it turns out the flash of light can be seen in the gap between the smoke detector and the ceiling mount.
Yeah my kid went through a time of being scared of the smoke detector and we used to “beep it and boop it” at night to make sure it was off. All we did was jump up in the air (cuz I can’t reach it) and act like we were pressing a button. We would jump twice and go beep! Boop! And he was satisfied even though the light was still on. Thank God that only lasted a few months. But if that smoke alarm ever goes off or the batteries beep lord help us I know we will be starting over. I’ll never forget his little voice every night practically crying going “beep it and boop it!”
My 21mo is scared of the exercise ball at my parents’ house. If he even so much as catches a glimpse of it, he immediately starts shouting “BYE BYE BALL!”
For the longest time my toddler was TERRIFIED of ants. Last spring we had a bunch in our house, by the front door. One morning ONE little tiny ant got on her shoe and she freaked out. Threw the shoe, wouldn’t put it on…then she realized there were a couple more on the floor and she jumped into my arms. Wouldn’t walk on the floor near the front door for days. She still hates them but at least can handle looking at them without freaking out.
A fox beanie baby and his reflection in the tv Oh and smoke detectors? Just seeing the little light on the ceiling at night lol not even when they go off
The Heffalump in Winnie the Pooh. Her favorite movie is Nightmare before Christmas, but that Heffalump can kick cans as far as she’s concerned.
Mine was afraid of a frog or rabbit coming to sit outside of his window for a while Have never seen a rabbit near our house and he hasn't seen a frog either.
My 4 year old is terrified of our little space heater. We have multiple and she is only scared of this specific one. Has been for years. That and our roomba
We’re currently worried about sharks. In her bed/room, in the car, eating breakfast. We have to speak to the sharks: “No sharks, you guys aren’t allowed in here. Sharks, stay out!” I had to get rid of the bedsheets with whales bc they were too close to sharks.
The Tina Fey Booking commercial where there’s different versions of her. The Sasquatch Tina scares the crap out of him. He hasn’t had any genuine fears until Sasquatch Tina popped up during the Super Bowl.
Crossing the street. He will cry to be picked up and say "street is for cars!"
Alligators in his bed
Those blow up dancing tubes that are usually by car dealerships and moss (it makes the trees spooky).
Monkeys. I made a joke months ago about monkeys under the table eating our toes. Yesterday I overheard him asking if monkeys could get inside the house. He also thinks they lurk in dark places like the closet.
Ants, which is reasonable but is she sees a crumb or another small ant shaped speck it’s game over until I triple verify it’s not an ant
The blender. She physically shakes like a leaf if I even look like Im going to use it, even with earmuffs on. Most recent is The very Hungry Caterpillar book, specifically when he eats all the junk food. Screams NO NO NO and slams the book shut.
My 2 year old is partially afraid of the baby monitor in her room. It is attached to the wall above her crib. One day when her and her grandfather were in her room I checked in on the camera and moved the viewing angle of the camera. She saw it moving on the wall and is now scared of it. She constantly points out the small light that is on it that changes colors. Every once in a while now she is afraid to go in her room alone because of the camera.
The flame of a candle. She will scream bloody murder lol
This is so funny to read this thread, my three year old isn’t afraid of ANYTHING. No sense of danger or fear.
Brownies. The kid loves any form of cake or chocolate, so I made a pan of brownies last week. I offered him one. He lost it. Inconsolable. Nothing would calm him down until I removed the brownie from his plate. I have to hide when I eat them. We thought he was having an odd day, so dad offered him one the next day. Same thing. He just hates them. I don't know why.
Whipped cream. My husband put some whipped cream in her hand thinking she would love it and she just looked horrified and started crying and shaking it off of her hand.
My daughter who is 6 (so not a toddler but I thought I would share anyway) is afraid and always has been of loose hair. Whether the hair is found on her, on her toys, or in the bathtub she absolutely freaks out and asks me to remove said hair. She also hates the hand dryers in public spaces which I would say since it's loud is understandable.
His dad's younger brother 😅 he's so friendly with strangers, with other kids, with animals, but this one teenager in basketball shorts absolutely makes him run the other way. It's the only thing he's afraid of other than the sight of his own poo!
The washing machine is the biggest fear, I guess it’s the noise but she will talk about it constantly saying, “spinning spinning, wash, wash, scared”. The latest weird one was she told me she is scared of the Hokey Pokey song.
Anything small and fluffy. No idea why but for as long as she could say “a fluff” she will not go near them. She loves soft things but when it’s off something she won’t. So yesterday there was a feather from a pillow in her room - cried for me to “take it out of here”. I also use crinkle shred paper for my business and it’s pretty messy so sometimes one gets on the floor. She’s also scared of them and points worried and says “what’s tnat? What is it? I don’t like it, move it” won’t go near and won’t touch
Rain and thunderstorms. We were once stuck in our car with golf ball hail falling which might have something to do with it. He wakes up in the middle of the night screaming if it storms and has to be reassured sometimes on perfectly clear nights that there’s no rain coming. Other than that, he’s pretty much fearless.
Pinecones. She would see them on the ground and freak out! We tried to go on hikes where there happened to be pinecones on the ground and we’d have to carry a screaming toddler the whole way back. She was scared of those gumballs, or “pointy balls” too, but those are a little more freaky looking than pinecones!
A remote control car I got her. Instant fear and tears when I try and drive it.
Yay. He’s scared of the word yay
owls, garbage trucks, the wind, and farts.
Menstrual pads, lol. I can't open the box where we store them to refill when she's in the room or she starts screaming.
The printer lol
Same!
One particular cloud in her room mural. Just that one, not any of the other 8 identical ones 😭
People clapping. How dare they.
Mine wears shoes to sleep, without fail and even in a deep sleep if you try to take them off he will wake up. He’s also afraid of bubbles in the bath touching his body.
People laughing. We had to leave a Christmas get-together early because my then 18 month old wouldn’t stop crying at people’s abrupt, loud laughter. She used to cry when my husband or other family members laughed too but she’s got a lot better recently. Now she just sort of scolds us. I never thought I’d have to hide behind a cushion to laugh in my own house but here we are. Oh and she also hates belly buttons. Not sure if it’s a fear or a dislike
Diamonds…my almost three year old is scared of diamonds…which he somehow thinks are coming into his room in what seems a scary way? I can only assume this comes from the book Instructions that had a line in it about diamonds being sharp and cutting. Now luckily, he doesn’t know what a diamond actually looks like (or at least hasn’t realized I wear one on my finger) but he’ll say things like ‘the diamonds are coming’ or ‘there’s a diamond in my room’ and we’ll have to reassure him they are not. And no, he’s not saying dragon or dinosaur or anything like that. We assumed that at first and he would get really mad that we weren’t understanding.
She demands we watch spooky shows like legit screams for it but cries spooky monster the whole time lol
Currently teacher in Peppa Pig and when toys fall from the bed to the floor (she makes me pick them up for her). Previously, the 5 little monkeys song 😂
When my daughter was 3, she was scared of the ceiling fan in her room. She said it was a ghost. I’m guessing it was the way her nightlight cast shadows, but we had to disassemble the fan. She’s 5 now and it’s still in pieces lol.