Is my son scared of my father?

Question

Every time my 15 month old sees his grandpa he flips out and starts to scream and cry. Is it possible hes just scared of his size? He stands 6-2 220, and everyone else that he sees on a regular basis is much smaller in size, 5ft - 5-8 at the most. Please help me out here. Its really bothering my father that he cant play around with my son. Thanks

Answer 1

he is probably scared b/c of the size, you should tell your father to sit and not stand wheneva your son is around and also tell him to talk in a soft soothing voice and not a deep man's voice

Answer 2

He could be intimidated by size and the tone of his voice. Some kids adore my guy, he's 6'4 220 with big ol muscles and tattoos, and some are scared out of their wits. The girls however, lol, always flirt with him. It's the boys who are iffy about him at times.

As the others suggested, try having him get on your sons level and make his voice a bit less intimidating. Bringing a toy or something your son loves may help break the ice. Good luck!

Answer 3

My daughter was afraid of my Dad too. The first thing was his voice. He had a deep voice and was usually alittle louder than what she was used to. He also wore glasses and she would freak out when he had them on. What we had him do is talk in a softer voice and not approach or force a meeting between the two. My Dad would come into the room, sit down and start to eat m&ms to get my daughter over to him. Try to respect the fear(even though it is unrealistic) your son has. Your Dad is a "stranger" in your son's eyes and him being afraid of strangers is a good thing.

Answer 4

Is he scared the whole time your Dad is around or does he eventually "warm-up" to him? My oldest was like this when she was little. But it was with everyone! She would only come to me or my hubby. I can remember her crying whenever her Grandma tried to pick her up. But after a while she would be ok. Maybe if your son sees you give your Dad a hug and then sit and talk with him a while, he will become more comfortable. Make sure your dad is sitting, just in case height is the issue.

Answer 5

It could be his height quite easily. You might try holding your son till he calms down and just hanging out around your dad while being with your son to show him that he doesn't need to be scared. Have a nice day!

-Having Grampa get down on his level is a really good idea too. He wont be as big and just stay relaxed.

Answer 6

Tell your dad not to take it personally - kids do this all the time with certain people. My 16 month old nephew flips out almost every time he sees me for some unknown reason. But then on rare occasions there is nothing wrong at all and he will let me play with him, hold him, walk around with him. Kids are weird. Who knows what they're thinking.

Answer 7

That is probably the issue. You need to make sure he keeps your son close to him and his face to help reduce the size compared to your baby.

Answer 8

Jay,

Why don't you go spend a week with Gpa

this way he gets used to him

I think it is your fault for not getting him accustomed to Gpa

make more of an effort,

Good luck

meg

Answer 9

Have Grampa crouch down, come down to his level.

...otherwise, and I hate to say this, it sounds like some sort of conditioned response. Like something bad happened in the grandfather's presence, or like the grandfather did something. It's hard to know for sure.

Does he display this behavior at ANY other time? Write me privately - I need more information.

Let Grandpa spend long amounts of time, until the child calms down - the child will eventually tire and realize they are not in any danger, and relax.

Answer 10

it may be something simple my step daughter use to do that to her grandpa and it was because his beard and hair scared her...we just let her stay the night there for a few days and she got use to him