Dealing With Toddler Fears

Many a child in the age bracket of two and three suffer from typical fears, which should not be mistaken for any kind of irregularity. A familiar fear is that of the dark. One can try to keep the night light on or replace the normal bulb with a colored, low wattage one. The child needs to be reassured that there is nothing to be alarmed about the dark. One could indulge in night strolls with the child, pointing out the interesting and unique things that are there only in the night, like the moon, stars, some nocturnal animals or birds in the zoo.

Many are afraid of lightning, thunder or fireworks bursting, the ideal ploy is distraction, by either telling a story or reciting his favorite number, turn the television volume up or pull out a game he likes a lot.

Physical activity is the best form of dispelling irrational fears. If the child is fearful of ghosts, play up by saying you can magically blow them away or assure the child that you would get rid of them by switching on the vacuum cleaner, and guarantee their exit into the flush.

If the child starts getting afraid of a piece of household item, it could be the washing machine for instance, help him rationalize his fears by explaining the purpose of that item, giving a visual demo of how you get the machine started. Try placing one’s hand along with the child’s hand on the machine to make him realize that with your support he need not be apprehensive.

Children fear of being involved in an imaginary traumatic incident like an accident or getting lost. Making the child realize that if loses his way he can get over it by getting the help of people near him, by saying his name, address and contact details.

Sometimes a child might be apprehensive of a particular object in his room, like a table lamp for the eerie shadows that it might be casting on the wall. One can resolve it by moving aside the bed to a favorable position where he cannot see any shadows.

Some are fearful at the sight of a particular insect, animals like snakes, dogs. If the child is fearful of dogs, for instance, it would be a great idea to request one of the friends who owns a dog to get it along to nursery at the time of pick up; the child will definitely look at things differently when he sees his peers being quite normal around it.

One must never ignore or lay less emphasis on these issues which might seem trivial at first, but treat it as a relevant matter that is better tackled head on. Make the child realize that the object of fear is in no way harmful, proffering rational explanations and always being helpful and sympathetic in your approach.

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