For children, the world can be an incredibly scary place, and, as a parent, you may not know what the best ways to help your child are or what you can do to put your mind at rest. As such, the first step to helping your child is to understand and recognize their fears. Here are some of the most common phobias among children and what you can do about them.
1. Trypophobia
Although you might always have had a slight disgust at sponges, bubbles, and spotted animals, you may fail to recognize this phobia for what it is, and you may disregard your child’s fear and panic when they see holes. As such, if your child often struggles to regulate their emotions when they see holes, they may have trypophobia, which is more common than you might expect and can lead to mild and more severe symptoms.
As such, if your child is beginning to react to holes negatively, you should look into what is trypophobia and ensure that you are doing all that you can to help your child through it.
2. Dentophobia
Beginning in childhood, a large percentage of people have a fear of the dentist, with up to 24% of people fearing the dentist, whether this is due to the worry that something might be wrong with their teeth, the fear of the instruments that they use, or the concern that the procedure may be painful. This fear of the dentist can increase if your child has a traumatic experience in the dentist’s surgery, for instance, if a procedure goes wrong.
However, your child must be able to get regular dental check-ups to ensure that their teeth and gums are in order. As such, you can try to help them to overcome this fear by discussing it with them, booking appointments at quiet times, speaking to the dentist about your child’s fear, and rewarding them afterward.
3. Iatrophobia
Like a fear of the dentist’s office, many children also fear the doctor’s because they might be concerned about a potential diagnosis or possible treatment, as well as the tools that the doctor may use to diagnose them, such as a blood pressure monitor. They may also be wary if they have a fear of needles and have previously been vaccinated in the doctor’s clinic.
Your child may act up before they visit the doctor and feel sick and nauseous. To help them overcome this, you should reassure them about what will happen when they are at the doctor’s, distract them with toys and games and allow them to play in the waiting room, and make sure that you are with them at times throughout their appointment.
4. Somniphobia
Your child may also develop a fear of sleep, which might come with worrying about whether they will wake up or concerns about nightmares. They may also be afraid of the dark. As such, if your child begins to fear sleep, you should create a relaxing bedtime routine and environment for them, consider reading to them until they fall asleep, and invest in a night light that can ensure that their room is never too dark for them.
