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fear of bugs/middle of the night wakeup

lana22lana22 member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+
Not even sure I should post cause it's just one isolated incident so far, but last night my 2.5 yo woke up around midnight and called out for me. When I went in he told me there was a bug in his crib and he was scared. We had a weird incident earlier in the day where there was a fly in the house and he was FREAKING OUT saying "protect me mommy" and seemed very scared. Maybe the two are related. Anyway, I looked around and told him his crib was bug free, middle of the night, etc. and that it was time to go back to sleep. He called out mommy a few more times but looked like he was about to fall asleep so I didn't go back in. I should also mention that he almost never wakes up in the middle of the night. He did once before when his brother was sick and the noise woke him, but otherwise he sleeps through all the time, so this was very strange.

Just before his nap awhile ago he mentioned seeing a bug last night in his crib, and I did a sweep and told him no bugs, and he passed right out.

Is this a thing as they get older? Does my son just have some issue w/ bugs right now? Should I expect more wakeups? I know every kid is different but maybe someone has been there, done that? 

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Re: fear of bugs/middle of the night wakeup

  • IA2TXGirlIA2TXGirl member
    I think it must be normal. Out of nowhere DD become afraid of bugs (yet will hold a snake - smh). As far as I know neither DH or myself taught her to be afraid of bugs, maybe they get it from daycare? I brought this up to another mom in DD's mommy/me gymnastics class and she said her DD (same age) started doing it too.
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  • ashiscuteashiscute member
    Another vote for normal.  The other night DD woke up screaming there was a spider in the window by her bed.  There was an ant but she was super freaked out.  I think they are just getting to the age where imagination plays a role and their ability to understand is still limited.  
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  • LSU628LSU628 member
    As they get older, their imagination starts kicking in full force. I got a great idea from another mommy on here about "Monster Spray" aka Febreeze before bedtime. Let your LO or you spray their rooms with Febreeze to get rid of the monsters, bugs, etc. Worked pretty well in my home!
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  • lana22lana22 member
    thanks everyone! he had another minor freakout at dinner last night when he told me he saw a fly and i explained it was a shadow and then he started half crying saying, protect me from the shadows, mommy. it's so sweet and sad at the same time. i'll just take this phase like all the others!

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  • BabyBoyNYCBabyBoyNYC member
    ughhhhh we are going through an irrational fear right now too. THE FAUCET!! It came out of nowhere last tuesday. His teacher pulled me aside and said he was just not being himself and crying and demanding the water to be turned off, huge problem because they wash their hands at school a million times a day. I didn't worry too much because those little fears come and go but the rest of the week the phobia has just been awful with crying and not participating in the usual activities he loves at school. At home though he will whine a little bit but then sit there and play with the faucet turning it off washing his hands and spraying the nozzle, we went swimming, we went to Busch Gardens and he didn't want to leave the splash pad (which is a huge chunk of pavement with squirting water everywhere) so I am just a loss. Either something must have happened at school or he had a weird dream. Going to talk with his Dr next week for his 3 year old check up, hopefully this thing goes away.

    My nephew had a huge fear of bugs like crazy, it took a while for it to go away but it did, irrational fears are normal.
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  • loisloan1118loisloan1118 member

    Normal here too, just some weird fears coming out.  I also think DD picked up saying she's "scared" of things because when my mom plays with her, she'll pretend to be scared & say "i'm scared" when DD roars like a tiger. 

     


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  • Ceridwen21Ceridwen21 member

    DS suddenly became very afraid of bugs (just the flying kind) a few weeks ago.  I have no idea what triggered it.  I read a bit about it online and apparently it is very common.  The best thing you can do is acknowledge the fear but try not to indulge them (ex. hugging them or removing them from the situation reinforces the message that bugs are scary).  Now when DS has an encounter, I bring myself down to his level and just try to talk to him about it.  I point out that he is big and the bug is small.  I ask him if he thinks it's a mommy bug or daddy bug.  I also ask silly questions like "does the bug like peanut butter? does the bug like to go swimming?" which often makes him laugh.  I have no idea if it will help in the long run, but he eventually calms down.

    About the Febreeze comment, I personally wouldn't do that because it reinforces the idea that there is something to be afraid of (bugs, monsters, etc).  DS went through a brief "there's a monster in my room" phase, and we just kept confidently repeating, "No, there are no monsters" (no checking under the bed or anything) and he eventually moved on.

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  • tbmadeamistaketbmadeamistake member
    My two year old is going through the exact same thing, right down to the nightmares. We just remind her there is nothing to be afraid of and move on.

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