Hello ladies,
I need a bit of advice. My LO is 8.5 month old mainly touchy baby, who gets startled by, scared of and upset by every noise very easily. He has been like this since the beginning. Both his dad and I are very conscious of his touchy-ness and socialise him slowly, giving him the time to ease into the situation at hand at his own pace.
However, every time I go to a mothers' meeting with other babies, or baby swimming, which he really enjoys, as soon as another baby makes any sort of noise, both happy or sad, squealing with joy or anger, crying or simply babbling, my LO starts crying. He is also extremely noise sensitive with adults. Sneezing, coughing, creaking floor boards, anything really, sets him off. Outside noises as well - motorcycles, trucks, birds, car horns etc. get him going.
It affects his sleep too, as it startles him out of his naps, or even at night time, a windy night will have him waking frequently.
He seems ok with his own noises though, as long as he's the only one doing the squeeling
Seriously though, I don't know what to do, as even just going to a small cafe with one other baby or to a friendly mum's house can prove challenging, and other mums are starting to shy back from letting their babies interact with my LO at all for fear of 'scaring' him and setting him off.
Does anyone have any ideas for how I can desensitise him or at least make it less scary for him? Are there perhaps any exercises or games I can play with him, which could help?
Thanks for your advice.