Our 18 week old recently went through a big developmental explosion (new vocalizing, rolling, effective grasping in about a 10 day stretch). But all of a sudden he seems to get scared in a way he didn't before. Last night his got very upset when his dad made the "vrrooomm" noise while reading a book, and then at bath time DH poured water over his own head and LO saw and just SCREAMED. He was fine as soon as DH stopped. We tried it again a few minutes later to see if it was just a coincidence, and got the same reaction. It isn't really a cry, but a shriek of terror, and he calms himself down once whatever scared him stops. It has happened a few times at different random things (window blinds startling him, funny faces we make, etc) the past few days.

I don't really think there is anything to do about it, other than trying to avoid things that scare him and comfort him when they do. But I'm curious if this is just a normal developmental stage. Did anyone else notice this with their baby? Did they grow out of it quickly? I feel so sad for the little muffin.