English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

My youngest, who turned 3 in September is traumatized. A couple of months ago the house next to us burned almost to the ground. We were awakened by neighbors because our roof apex was smoking too. So she was dragged out of bed at 1 am and made to wait outside for almost 4 hours before they would let us back in.

What traumatized her most was her daddy's admission that when he went back into our house to get the car keys, the firemen that came in right after him "scared" him. He meant startled.

This set off a chain of thinking in her little head that has resulted in her being afraid of EVERYTHING. We are doing a lot of things to help her with it, but one thing I want to do is write her a little story that can help her feel better about it.

Can you help me with an idea? The beginning of a simple rhyme or something about being scared? I'm coming up blank! lol Thanks!

2006-11-15 12:57:58 · 8 answers · asked by arewethereyet 7 in Pregnancy & Parenting Toddler & Preschooler

8 answers

I can understand this fear of hers. My youngest who is nine has an exaggerated fear of kettles boiling and stoves on. She will be the first to yell when the kettle whistles.

At one time it was the rainfall. She feared that the place will flood and we will all drown.

Your child's fear is fed by a fertile imagination just like mine. Only a realtime approach will lessen that fear.

Where my child was concerned, I got her to see that the rain helps to keep the grass green. I showed her how when there is no rain, the grass will turn brown. Eventually she came to accept that rain was needed. She still is fearful but the fear is diminished.

I'm still working on the kettle problem. I would like to add that much of her fears were made real by television movies.

Likewise, show her practical aspects of her fear. Show her how firemen help, maybe a visit to the firestation would help at the end.

Stories, from my experience, do not usually help in reducing the fear. In fact the opposite occurs. Some innocous remark in the story may increase the fear.

The more practical way would be to show your child that what she fears is actually a friend and mind you, this will take time and effort on your part. DO NOT on any account scream at her or ridicule her fear. IT IS REAL to her. Most children's fear is accelerated when the parent shows fear. Then, it is that parent alone who can reassure the child that it is alright.

A practical approach is still the best as it allows the child to appreciate it in real time. This is important as a lot of young children are exposed to movies that are frightening and they cannot diffrentiate between screen shows and real life.

I hope my non story does not put you off.

2006-11-15 13:31:09 · answer #1 · answered by angstrom 4 · 0 0

Everybody is scared of something, but three is too young to be able to work some of that out. I'll try to think of a rhyme, but I do know a book that addresses this.

"Franklin in the Dark" by Paulette Bourgeois is an early "Franklin the turtle" book and in it Franklin is afraid of his shell. He travels and meets a bird afraid of heights and other creatures that are afraid and he overcomes his fear of his shell.

Another way to approach might be making her feel powerful. Tell her what to do in an emergency. Get her some Fisher Price Rescue Hero toys and movies and spend a few afternoons rescuing people and putting out imaginary fires. Once you've saved a bunch of dolls from a volcano, tornado, earthquake and blizzard, everyday stuff is not so scary.

Best wishes.

PS Wendy Waters is the second in command if you're looking for a female rescue hero. In one DVD she has to overcome her fear of being trapped underwater in order to save an island from a tidal wave. Ariel Flyer is another female RH.

2006-11-15 13:20:01 · answer #2 · answered by bookmom 6 · 0 0

Love the previous submit theory.... I even have January born twin little ones which would be 3 next week...for his or her first birthday I did a difficulty One & difficulty 2 subject matter. I searched Google and found a image of difficulty One and difficulty twin, larger the photograph to be super sufficient for an invitation, use a cream colour scrapbook internet site, revealed them off, used artist colored pencils to fill in the colour. To make it an invitation to bear in mind, i found blue fur and glued it to they head of difficulty One and difficulty 2. They have been rather lovable!.... i'd like a Cricut sooo undesirable! ...i'm specific you will desire to locate a Toy tale, as an occasion, Woody and use felt on the hat. stable success with the birthday. This 3 hundred and sixty 5 days we are doing a music subject matter. I made a tambourine invites...I guess you're satisfied that the twin are popping out of the poor twos! i comprehend i'm!

2016-10-15 14:44:01 · answer #3 · answered by sernas 4 · 0 0

oh how terible u could write her a story about some little and nice animals that combat their fears (put your daughter´s ones) and at the end they rn´t afraid anymore
My mom made m a story of a bubble thet had many adventures when i was about 3 and i really liked it so u could do one of an animal or something she likes that travels around the world

u cold buy her a dog they help kids stop their fears and their problems

good luck i hope this is usefull

2006-11-15 13:09:20 · answer #4 · answered by Dalia 5 · 0 0

I hate to say this but you might want to ask your daughters doctor for help. She seriously may need some therapy and yes 3 year olds can see therapists. My friends daughter was caught IN a house fire at age 2 and she had severe issues after and they sent her to get some phsycological help. It worked great. At the very least your childs doctor should be able to offer some pointers on helping

2006-11-15 13:51:56 · answer #5 · answered by Lori R 4 · 0 1

Busy Day, Busy People by Tibor Gergely

If I remember correctly, there's a part about firemen and what they do.

2006-11-15 13:18:02 · answer #6 · answered by Wiley 5 · 0 0

Just go to the book store and ask one of the employees if they have any books for kids about being afraid. I've seen tons..sorry, can't name any off the top of my head though. I'm sure you'll be able to find something, and I'm sorry to hear about your roof and your neighbor's house.

2006-11-15 13:04:52 · answer #7 · answered by CelebrateMeHome 6 · 0 4

What about these?
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780310707844&itm=6
http://www.amazon.com/When-Feel-Scared-Way-Books/dp/0807589004/sr=1-2/qid=1163642957/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-5540967-4825554?ie=UTF8&s=books

2006-11-15 13:11:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers