My 3 year old son is suddenly scared of strangers.?

Question

My son has always been outgoing and friendly. He has suddenly become scared of strangers, and "naughty people" getting him. He cried in terror when he came to my work and a woman was outside the door smoking. He follows me around the house and constantly asks if people are coming over. He wants all the doors locked and me by his side.

His sisters never did this, so this is new to me. Anyone else experience this. Any advice?

Answer 1

How old are the sisters, did they plant any ideas in his head trying to scare him.  Did he see something which set him off, TV, outside, watching something with dad.

Answer 2

yeah. this happens to my cousin they found out that a man at her daycare was being raped, you definitely should get him to a therapist, to see if this is what happened.

Answer 3

Someone he is around during the day has scared him. Just talk to him and try to find out the root of his fear; also check with his sisters.

Answer 4

My son went through bouts of this also.  The way I see it he is trying to figure out his boundaries with strangers.  We tell them not to talk to strangers all the time.  They see and hear things on TV about strangers and bad people.  I think that when our kids act this way towards strangers they are aware of the fact that people they don't know could be dangerous and have not yet decided how to tell if someone is a "stranger" or a "naughty person".  Therefor everyone is a threat to them and to you as well.  When my son was going through that, he wouldn't even look at someone he didn't know, and he didn't appreciate them talking to or looking at me either.  In my opinion this is completely acceptable.  At that age I don't think it's necessary for him to talk to anyone he doesn't want to.  I encourage my son to be cautious (not overly so) and know that when he is mature enough to differentiate between safe and dangerous I will be there to back him up.  If your son likes to make sure the doors are locked then accept that.  It makes him feel secure and that is so important for his well being (which is completely related to development)  If you don't like him freaking out when he sees someone smoking outside then try to do something to make him more comfortable in the situation.  My son would bury his face in my neck.  Eventually he decided that wasn't necessary.  He is a little older now and one of the most social little people I have ever met, he will talk to anyone that has ears.  It's just a learning stage that he will grow out of.  Good Luck!!!

Answer 5

It sounds like he is scared of something that he doesn't fully understand. Just talk to him, ask him what naughty people look like and what they do. Once you get what it is that he is really scared of you can start talking to him about it in a way that he can understand.

If this distresses him, you don't get anywhere or you get answers that concern you, then you need to get a professional opinion ASAP