Help Please - San Francisco,CA

Some people just freak kids out. If your neighbor has never been alone w/ your son, then Id say there's nothing to worry about. If he has that is a different story.
My BIL who is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, unfortunately caused most of the babies in our family to bawl their eyes out every time he came in to the room. Once they hit the toddler-ish phase they all love him. We think it was his voice, because we KNOW he'd never done anything to them.
But maybe your child senses something about your neighbor. It's hard to tell if your child isn't communicating well.

Is your neighbor big? Are you a single mom and he is a guy? Has your son ever been alone with your neighbor? Why don't you wait until you are calm and he is calm one time and ask what do you think of so and so. Or get a doll and say this is so and so show me what he does.

My oldest was terrified of Santa until he was five! Some people just look too strange to kids.

I wouldn't be quick to assume your neighbor has done anything wrong.

Children usually love me right away, but when I was working on the OB ward at a hospital doing the birth certificates, one little girl just freaked when I came into the room. She made it very clear she didn't want me there and I was taken back a bit by it. It turned out, she was afraid I was there to give her mom a shot. I showed her that all I had was papers and a pen, I wasn't there to hurt or scare anyone. I offered to come back later because I didn't want her upset with me. She was dealing with the birth of a new baby. Mom had a c-section and wasn't up and around as usual, etc.

She ended up being fine with me, but I certainly was ready to bow out gracefully and go back at another time. I wasn't going to force the issue.

Little kids can be afraid of people for lots of different reasons. They aren't all ominous.

Your son is still pretty little so you may not be able to pinpoint where his reaction is coming from. Your neighbor should be fine with you not forcing the issue.

Best wishes.

Don't let him around the neighbor. Teach your child 'stranger danger' and about safe and bad touching. It could also be innocent stranger anxiety which is a phase some kids go through at this age.

http://binspiredmama.blogspot.com/2012/06/10-tips-for-tea...

Help your child learn to communicate. Dr. Sears is a childhood expert has some really good articles here, especially under the "parenting" text box:
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/discipline-behavior

Does your neighbor have facial hair? Wear a hat? Have a really deep voice? Some times these things are frightening for a child.

Does your neighbor have a dog or cat? Perhaps he got nipped and it frightened him, and he associates your neighbor with that.

If you have been watching your son plenty and the neighbor hasn't had access to him, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Children just sometimes go through these things. But that doesn't mean that you force your child to be around your neighbor. He's not ready.

If your son HAS been around the neighbor alone, there might be a different reason. Just be vigilant and calm and keep your son safe.

Dawn

I know you are being told it's basically a thing some kids do/go through. However, trust your guts and your child's feelings. I'm not saying anything happened, but one never knows. It could be that your son just plain doesn't like your neighbor. Has there been any times when your son has been alone with the neighbor? Maybe this neighbor scolded him for something and now he's scared. All I know is, children, like animals have a sense about people and that sense should be taken seriously.