Toddler deathly scared of bugs

[mjknapp]

My three year old is deathly scard of bugs, all of them, spiders, flies, ants, you name it, she is scared of it. I am not sure how to get her past this without scaring her more. We sit out on the front walk, and I tell her that the ants are only working and wont bother her, that they all have little ant family's of their own, I have tried just ignoring it when she gets scared, act like it is no big deal, but that seems to just make it worse.
I need a few ideas to try to get her past this stage. I was thinking about getting her an ant farm and letting her watch what they do in an enclosed environment. What do you guys think??

[Don-Dad]

My son was deathly afraid of bugs, I think he had a nightmare and then for weeks he would not sleep in his room or would wake up in the middle of the night and then have trouble getting to sleep. He still is not too keen an all bugs but for the most part but he's not running for the hills either :)

This was just a few months ago. So maybe this is just temporary? I also made it a point to tell him that they could not hurt him. I explained how they are more scared of him because he is so big and could squash them easily, followed by a few examples, poor little bugs :(

Anyhow, sorry I could not be more helpful.

[mjknapp]

Yeah, I explained how much bigger she is than the bugs too, and that she could just squish them, i tell her to go step on that ant, and she replies by telling me that the ant is a daddy ant and they would miss their kids. It's like a big circle. LOL I think the only thing that will help her is to keep trying, watching the bugs outside, and explaining to her that all bugs have a purpose of being here. Now if only I could figure out what that purpose is, I would tell her. :P

[Remington]

My daughter is scared of bugs and so is my sister's daughter who is now 5 years old. We should be somewhat happy that they are scared of certain bugs and can be used as a defensive mechanism. But, we obviously don't want our kids to have phobias to harmless bugs.

My daughter would scream when she saw a bug. I did some of the things you guys tried. First I acted like it was no big deal.

I explained how they are more scared of him because he is so big and could squash them easily, followed by a few examples, poor little bugs :(
I never stepped on the poor ants :lol: :lol: but I would tell them that they lived out here and that we need to be respectful of their homes.

I have not found any way of completely curing her phobia of bugs but I try to help by not reacting to it. She still doesn't like bugs but she has calmed down a bit on the screaming tantrums.

If anybody has any good advice I would like to hear it too.

[tt3]

Ya know, this'll probably happen to me and my daughter since I find them so cool. If they had a longer lifespan I'd consider keeping aquatic larvae in my aquarium. Dragonfly larvae can be some pretty awesome hunters!

[SAHF]

My son was the same way, hell still is at times. Bees are the WORST! My daughter on the other hand....she is so brave she will pick up a snake if it came by her!

NOW...being in Florida and her not scared of anything..I have to keep a close eye on where she is and the entire surroundings. Like I said, she is VERY brave.

It sucks! :lol:

[Diamondb]

Quite honestly I wish my little guy was scared of something. Sure he's only 22 months right now, so he has lots of time to grow into his fears, but his current fearlessness is going to put me into an early grave.