3 Yo Not Sleeping, Scared of Ceiling Fan

Yes! Our middle one (our son who turned 5 on Monday) is deathly afraid of the air conditioning vent in the ceiling of his room. We covered it with a Thomas the Tank Engine placemat, and that helped a lot.

However he also doesn't like sleeping alone so he nearly always manages to creep into our bed by 4 or 5 am. We would do something about it--you know, like walk him back to his own room--if we actually noticed he was in there before our alarm went off in the morning!!

This too shall pass... ;)

You have such a smart boy- and a great communicator! You've done a fantastic job at teaching him to tell you what he's thinking and feeling!

Don't beat yourself up about this. 3 year olds (especially very bright ones, like yours) are incredibly imaginative, and it's hard to always take them seriously! Now you know what's going on, and you've taken care of the problem. And you clearly devote yourself to this little guy. An amazing mama, indeed!

So give yourself a break! :)

Hi K.,

Yes, it's normal...when our son was about 3, we had an analog clock with a second hand on the wall above his door -- one of those cheap plastic things. It made a very light "click" sound every time the second hand moved -- it could barely be heard as far as my husband and I were concerned. After a while, though, he complained that he couldn't sleep and came to us and told us "the clock is going to get me," and "that noise it makes is making me crazy!" and implored us to take it down. Well...we thought he shouldn't be so bothered by something we could hardly even notice, but we removed the clock, he started sleeping soundly immediately, and that was that. (He's 10 now and has a digital clock on his nightstand -- it doesn't make noise!)

Anyway, yes, the upshot of all this is that it's normal. You've changed the fixture, he's sleeping better, and I think that it probably won't come up again. Don't worry...he (and you) will be fine!

S. :)

My 4 year old is having major sleep issues and is scared to sleep in her room. I wish I could nail down what it was and fix it! Her answers have been much more vague, I'm afraid. Since we moved here about 4 months ago, however, she has spent 98% of the nights in our bed. (Aside from the week I spent sleeping down there on an airmattress to make her feel more comfortable and safe. That did help for a little while.) Last week, we broke down and bought a bigger bed. Taking down a ceiling fan would have been a lot cheaper!

My 19 month old baby girl is afraid of the swamp color fans to each room. She keeps pointing and looking at them every time.She is afraid . I noticed she looks there points right away as soon as she wakes up in the morning or from a nap.. This seems to really be bothering her.She doesnt want to sleep in her room well. The other night i noticed her crying in her crib as if the A/C fan in her room was bothering her everytime i walk in her room shes sitting crying and looking up at the a/c fan .She stoped crying so i went upstairs to check on her she woke out of her sleep and pointed at the fan inside the wall . I personally think they are creepy too. they are dark and scary lookin. i recently moved to this condo so im not to sure its history but even as im typing this shes pinting at the a/c fans in the wall ..what do i do???

K.,
Have no fear, your son is completely normal. My almost 3 year old was(and sometimes still is) afraid of the plantation shutters on his window. He tells me "they scare me". These are all phases and next week, unfortunately, it will be something else. When I was putting my son to sleep last night, he tossed and turned. Finally, i went in there and he said,"Mommy, don't let anyone get me." I felt so bad. I stayed in his room until he was sleeping and that was it. I hope your son's new fan was the answer. good luck!

My 3 yo is afraid of the vacuum - REALLY afraid. This is the same child who had no problem with it until last summer. She wouldn't go to the bathroom at school - come to find out, the vacuum was stored in the same hallway. If she sees the display of vacs at target or walmart she gets all panicky and depending on how big the display is, she looks like she is ready to cry. I went on line and talked to our doctor about it because quite frankly I thought she was losing it. Seems that these fears are a normal part of their development - most kids are afraid of something at some point or another. We don't ignor her fear - we do talk about it. She will now use the bathroom at school and will walk by our vac without panicking. I think you did the right thing by removing the fan - it can always be reinstalled once he moves past the fear.

I have a similiar situation w/ my 3yr old. she is scared of the door, a towel hanging on the wall, it changes from time 2 time.

Hi K.,

This is just my opionion, I would remove the fan. Knowing that he is so afraid is not worth having it there. Poor little guy. I remember being a kid and not want to walk in the hall alone. Don't know why, but it was scary to ME.