Do young toddlers like fireworks?

[crunchy_mommy]

DS is almost 17mos old... I made the mistake of thinking he'd like a baseball mascot (person dressed like a bear) and after hearing the most terrified scream I've ever heard from him, I DON'T want to make that kind of mistake again!

Are most 1-year-olds afraid of fireworks or do they like them?

[Zan&Zav]

depends on the kid. my 5 year old has always loved them and my 3 year old just sat through a display without crying in terror right after his 3rd birthday

[Honey693]

Last year DD was 9 months old during fireworks. She watched the first few minutes then fell asleep.

[Nicole730]

At 14 months and 15 months, DS watched half of them and then fell asleep. He is scared of bunnies hopping through our yard if that helps at all.

[aunt2jmss]

I agree that it depends on the kid.

At that age my oldest niece enjoyed them as long as we were quite a ways away from them. (They were at Great America - a local amusement park - and we parked our car at a local business and watched them from there.) She did not like them when the noise was too loud when we were closer and sat in Great America's parking lot.

My friend's toddler wasn't bothered by them at all when we sat on a football field to watch our city's show. They were set off right above us and he loved them.

[lmk1]

My son loves them...when he had just turned 2, we saw them on the beach, and he kept looking for more after they were over. He is scared of people dressed up in costumes (easter bunny, sir topham hatt, whatever). With fireworks, I just tell him how pretty I think they are, so that he knows that it's alright and the sky isn't falling down

[QuestionGal]

depends on the kiddo and prepping them helps. DS is afraid of loud noises. We've learned to prepare him by explaining before we get there what's going to happen. I also try to find videos on youtube and show him those first. This worked for going to the air show when DS was newly 2 and Fireworks when he was almost 2. Prior to that we tried to limit his exposure to things that might bug him. Fireworks from a distance helps too!

[momasana]

My DS never had a problem with them. We have loud, barky dogs at our house and I think he is used to sudden loud noises.

[sapphire_chan]

If they're far enough away, they sound like clapping and you can see sparkles.

If your town has a big fireworks display, there's probably some place where you can see the fireworks but not hear them.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

My DS LOVED them last year at 11 months old. He had the greatest time, sat in rapt attention, babbled and clapped and had so much fun! Of course last summer he loved pools and lots of other things too

This year however he is 23 months and having a cautious phase so I'm not positive how the fireworks are going to go over for him.

[MusicianDad]

I also agree that it depends on the kid. Well I'll take that one further and say it depends on the person. I hate fireworks, but then all I get out of them is a loud bangs. We don't know how dS will deal with fireworks, DD has go through stages of loving them and hating them.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I will tell you what happened to US last year, and you can do what you want with it.

We were at my BIL house, his young (21?) GF is there, they had a whole sleu of fireworks they were going to put off later that night. She thought it would be fun to light a few bottle rockets, or whatever, RIGHT BEHIND MY 21 month old son, when he wasnt prepared, and wasnt even LOOKING. The sound made him crap himself. When it was time for the real fireworks, he was so shell shocked, my MIL was in the house with him, holding him the rocking position (like a newborn) while he shook and cried. (I was holding my then 7 month old) It was awful.

Im hoping he has completly forgotten that experience by now, and we are going to try to give both boys plenty of noitce and NO SURPRISES THIS YEAR. (BILs gf is history, so that should help )

[crunchy_mommy]

Hmm well I hate fireworks (always have) and DS is a lot like me so maybe we should hold off on it. But I think DH really wants to take him. I guess we could try to find somewhere where we can watch from a distance (though around here that's often the side of a busy road, not good with a toddler )!!

[blizzard_babe]

DS (14 months old last 4th of July) did NOT love them. We were pretty close... a friend lives across the road from the park where they shoot them off and has a big party every year. DS is pretty sensitive to loud noises and new experiences. He's bold and daring if given enough time, but takes a while to warm up to new things. We enjoyed them from INSIDE the house for a while, and by the end, we could be outside, but he was clinging to me like one of those newborn monkeys. He LIKED them, sort of, in that he wanted to watch, but was freaked out too.

I wish I had thought ahead and bought those kiddie ear protectors. He'd TOTALLY dig them if they weren't so darn noisy.

ETA: Speaking of things we thought they'd like... you should have seen the terrified scream DS let out when I thought it'd be entertaining to show him a shadow puppet doggie. He got over it, and now finds them HILARIOUS, but I think the people in front of and behind me on the airplane thought he was being tortured or something...

[elmh23]

I've had two toddlers, one didn't love fireworks, but didn't scream. The other LOVED them and got upset when we ran out. I've always been terrified of them.

About the mascot, it's weird what will set some kids off. A couple of years ago, my friend's 4-year-old was terrified by a guy in an Elmo costume but does fine with any other mascot.

You could always light off one or two and see how he reacts. If he's fine, light some more. If he's not, donate your supply to a neighbor and go inside.

[ASusan]

totally kid-dependent (and age-based). At 20 mos., DS slept through a very loud, close display. This year...we'll see what happens. I *think* he will like them, as he likes things in the sky and isn't bothered too much by loud noises. (Except the blender(?), but we've turned that into a "funny" thing, rather than a "scary" thing.)

[Peacemamalove]

My toddlers never liked fireworks and they were always way to late 10 pm before they started. I think all my kiddos were about 3 or 4 when they stayed up to watch fireworks.

[kayc]

We made the mistake of taking my now 3 yr old DS to fireworks last year (at 2 yrs of age). We prepped him about the loud noise and he had his favorite cousin with....it was a complete disaster! Not only did he start screaming, but when we tried to leave, there were people all sitting in the area that the cars were to go out!! We had to sit there in the car with a screaming, terrified child for 45 minutes....

So earlier this week when I told DS that it was July, he immediately said "no, it's August...I don't want July!". Once again, my 3 yr old thinks I can change and fix everything...needless to say, we won't be seeing fireworks this year. We may drive around to see some, but definitely not close enough for him to hear them.

So if you decide to take your little one, make sure there is a way out!