Did anyone's toddler enter a new stage of fears?

Last year Jenna was fearless-LOVED the beach, the ocean, the pool, etc.. She was abetween 10-12 months last summer.

Now this year she is a fraidy cat. We took her to the beach and she would not leave the blanket-she was afraid of the sand and I tried taking her in the water and she cried "no wawa momma!!!"

I tried our swimming pool and same thing-she has to be held or she screams! I got her a little boat float and i've been taking her in almost everyday so she is getting used to it but is it common to develop all new fears.

Should I keep trying with the water or am I traumatizing her-lol?

Re: Did anyone's toddler enter a new stage of fears?

Danielle- it's normal. I had this same problem a few months back and it escalated in to many new fears. Thank goodness they are finally subsiding. You can keep trying, but I wouldn't force it. Once we just ignored what bothered her, it seemed to pass.

Re: Did anyone's toddler enter a new stage of fears?

Keep trying but dont' make a big deal of it. I agree with Nancy - ignore it a bit - play with the water yourself & she'll probably come down on her own.

Re: Did anyone's toddler enter a new stage of fears?

Im glad to hear this is normal. Claire is 19 months old and seems to be developing new fears recently. We took her to the beach and she was terrified of the sand on her feet, and forget about the water itself. Latly she is scared of taking a bath, of loud toys and the vaccum. Luckly her crazy fear of her own shadow has subsided.

Re: Did anyone's toddler enter a new stage of fears?

Just try to ignore it. Make sure she is not picking up any cues from people around her about fears. If you have a fear of bugs she probably will too based on your reaction.

Re: Did anyone's toddler enter a new stage of fears?

OMG Nicholas has done the same exact thing!
Last year he LOVED the pool (he was 14-16m in the summer) In FL, he had a blast at the hotel pool, was always curious and into things (with JA we never even had to cover up or childproof things because he never even LOOKED at a light socket)
NOW, Nicholas refuses to go into the pool, and barely cares for the sprinklers (although at parks he LOVES the sprinklers).
At home he prefers the water table, or if we go to a playdate, he prefers to stand outside the kiddie pool and play with the toys and water
At home it kinda works for me now, because I can take JA into the big pool as we watch Nicholas by the water table and he has ZERO interest in coming in with us.
Weve asked him numerous times and he always says NO NO NO, a few weeks ago we put him in a floatie thing in the pool, and BOY the puss on his face, he was SOO annoyed, whined and wanted out...
We're ignoring it and letting it pass...
Im sure he'll love it again soon.
As long as Jenna doesnt seem terrified of something or its affecting her in other ways (crying at nite or having nightmares?) then I would just ignore it and let her do what she's enjoying at the moment... and enjoy these times that shes NOT trying to dunk her head into the pool We have JA who is completely fearless in the pool and thinks hes a scuba diver