My child is 3 almost 4 years old and she is deathly afraid of bugs. Any type of bugs. Flies, ants, mosquitos even cute lady bugs. I am worried that she will have to spend the whole summer inside. She just shakes and cries fiercly when she comes in contact or even sees them.
2007-03-26 02:51:33 · 6 answers · asked by irms49930 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
How do you react to them? Did she see you squirm, scream or jump when you saw a bug? She might be imitating perhaps you or someone else. It sounds like more of a learned response. Same thing happens when you get more upset than your child does when they fall and get hurt. They learn that they SHOULD be super upset. I'm not saying it's you though; could be the dad, sibling, day care?
Why not go the the library and find some good kid bug books. The more you know about something, the less there is to fear. Get a cartoon book that isn't so 'real' and work from that. See once you read the book if you can find bugs outside and talk about how beautiful they are- or how funny they look. Have her draw pictures of her favorite ones and her least favorite ones.
She might just be fearing the unknown. They are weird things! They buzz, fly at you, crawl in weird places- perhaps if she understood them better she'd be more at peace.
Good luck!
2007-03-26 03:25:18 · answer #1 · answered by schmidtee 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First by her little toy bugs so that she can see that they are harmless. Then take her to a museum that has the bugs under glass. Don't belittle her when she screams and runs, just hug her close and try to calm her down. Take her a distance away from the bug she has seen and calmly tell her to watch it fly around peacefully. Tell her that it won't hurt her if she doesn't hurt it.
I think she has the right to be afraid of mosquitos, I mean after all, they do bite!
2007-03-26 10:09:45 · answer #2 · answered by Mother of 5/Madre de 5 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Even though I'm a guy, I hated bugs as a little kid, and still do to an extent. The best way to address her fear is to let her kill a few bugs. When she realizes that genetically, she is vastly superior and stronger, her fears will be subdued by a superiority complex. That's a new can of worms you can address later on in life. Best Wishes...
2007-03-26 10:02:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My son will be 3 in June. He was the same way. I would take him in the back yard to look for bugs. I would pick them up to show him that they were harmless. I would slowly put the bug in his hand. While the bug is in his hand i let him rest his hand on my hand. After doing that a couple times he started to like bugs. We would also dig small holes to make the bugs a home. Gotta make it fun, but don't force her. If you force her it will make her hate them even more.
2007-03-26 10:19:53 · answer #4 · answered by CHAE 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Buy some bug books. Pick a not so harmful bug up, ladybug, crane flies, ect...so she can see it's not harmful nor scarry.
2007-03-26 11:03:39 · answer #5 · answered by Spring loaded horsie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you could try contacting your local zoo and see if they have any educationaly classes for preschoolers that deal with insects. most humans are afraid of what they don't understand and if your child was able to learn the difference between good and harmful insects, that may help her.
2007-03-26 10:02:48 · answer #6 · answered by bdyoung8 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋