Can you make eye-contact with little kids?

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phoenixflame22
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22 May 2011, 11:32 pm

I have noticed that even though eye-contact in general feels very uncomfortable and unnatural for me, for some reason when it comes to little kids this isn't really the case. When I make eye-contact with them, there's no discomfort at all and it feels fine. Natural, even - I don't even have to try or think about it. It just sort of happens, in a way that would be basically unimaginable for me when interacting with people generally. (For that matter, I suppose interaction with little kids is otherwise usually much easier for me as well.) I don't know why.

Is this true for anyone else? Do you have any idea why this would be the case?

By "little kids" I mean babies through perhaps 7 years old or so, though I'm not sure where the upper limit would be.



League_Girl
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22 May 2011, 11:38 pm

I am not around little kids to know but I can make it with my baby. I enjoy looking at him in the eyes and seeing my reflection in them.



OJani
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23 May 2011, 3:36 am

I experienced the same thing this weekend, when I visited my favorite cousin's little family. One kid is 5, the other is 1.5 yo. I could look in the eye of the older easier compared to adults. I did it not too much anyway. I think the 5 yo kid has a very open look. I played with both of them (as a 3rd kid :) ), and did a lot of cycling alone on the same old tracks and roads of a mountain where I meandered many times during my years at the uni. That felt satisfying. :)


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Ai_Ling
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23 May 2011, 4:04 am

I actually noticed that too, for me eye contact is automatic with little kids and animals especially. Whenever I look at an animal, I will look straight at their eyes, its soo natural. This indicates that eye contact is more so associated with some sorta fear.



keira
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23 May 2011, 4:32 am

I find it less uncomfortable to make eye-contact with children too. With animals it feels natural.



Fatal-Noogie
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23 May 2011, 5:15 am

I have a more difficult time making eye-contact with children.

Young children tend to be more attention-seeking (as they should be ... to some extent),
which means when I'm around them, I feel obligated to acknowledge them.
I get more nervous around children because they're more impressionable
and I doubt my qualifications as a role-model.


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Severus
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23 May 2011, 5:26 am

I give small children a very wide berth and I avoid look at them as a whole, let alone their eyes.



sasiku
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23 May 2011, 6:42 am

Yes. We can make eye contact with them.
But we should be careful.



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23 May 2011, 8:41 am

I find it easier to make eye contact with little kids than with older people.


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Flyingladder
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23 May 2011, 10:19 am

I can't hold eye contact with kids, it's worse then looking at adults in the eyes for me, maybe because I hold a slight fear of children.



SyphonFilter
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23 May 2011, 10:27 am

Even if it's hard to make eye contact with others in the first place, looking down at little kids is somewhat easier than looking at, say, teens or people my own age.



littlelily613
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23 May 2011, 10:32 am

I can't make eye contact with kids. Sometimes I can make it with animals, but that is all.



kittie
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23 May 2011, 11:36 am

I can make eye contact with kids pretty easily, because I know they're not judging me, and I find them kinda' sweet (although I NEVER want them!). Then again, I can make eye contact with people in general on and off, it's never been a huge problem for me (although it's been a minor one - I go the other way, I never know if I'm looking too much or too little, so sometimes I accidentally stare, and sometimes my eyes wonder all over the place).



the_curmudge
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23 May 2011, 12:20 pm

I'm uncomfortable around small children because they are likely to do or say something novel that will require me to abandon my script. The one relief I have is not feeling obligated to look them in the eyes, because they don't seem to notice one way or the other. I am not particularly proud of feeling this way.



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23 May 2011, 1:46 pm

making eye contact with small children is more difficult and makes me far more unconformable then with adults.


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23 May 2011, 1:49 pm

im very poor with small children
my husband is infact very good he makes quick friendship with kids
i cant make eye contact with kids
only with my own son im interactive


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