How to Help Your Children Deal with Their Fears

Does your child feel absolutely terrified of the dark? Does he raise a ruckus when a tiny spider is seen anywhere in the room? Does she ask you to check repeatedly for the monsters under her bed? Is he really afraid of getting into the pool? If the answer to any of these questions gets a big yes from your side, then be rest assured that you’re not alone in dealing with the myriad of fears that children have.

Before you start worrying about these extreme fearful reactions of kids to certain things, let us assure you that there is nothing wrong with your children. Childhood fears are one of the normal aspects of their development, and soon they’ll grow out of it.

The thing is, even though their fears are usually not rational, but their physiological reaction to the situation is very real. And, if you want your children to deal with their fears effectively, we, at Sapphire International School, have listed in this article below a few ways through which you can help them.

Do not rush them into confronting their fears

Remember that you cannot simply talk them out of being afraid in a day. Don’t expect a child who’s afraid to sleep alone to start doing it from day one. It will take time, and you will have to be patient all through this period. Let them talk to you freely about what is bothering them and listen to it with empathy.

Do not brush it off or get them to avoid the fear

The fear might appear completely irrational to you, but it’s genuine to them. So, brushing it off or addressing it with humor is not going to help the situation. In the same way, simply asking a child to quit swimming classes because he refuses to get into the water is not the way because it makes their fear seem even scarier to them.

Come with a plan together for overcoming the fear

We would suggest that you brainstorm together with your kids about the ways that can help. Write down the ideas that you both come up with and help your child to try it out. You’ll be surprised at how kids usually have the answers to their own fears when they start digging deep.

Help children take baby steps in overcoming fear

Like we said before, don’t expect a child who is afraid to sleep alone to start doing it right from the day you talked to him about it. However, tell him to try doing it for at least ten minutes on the first attempt, and gradually increase the time span. Take baby steps in overcoming his fear, and you’ll note that it ceases to exist after a while.

Maintaining your calm during the entire situation

You will have to keep calm during this entire period where you are trying to address your child’s fear. Drawing from the previous example: yes, you expected him to stay in his room for ten minutes and he could only manage five. Instead of losing your cool, tell him that it’s okay and you’re glad that he tried, and he can try harder the next day.

Be his/her biggest cheerleader when facing the fear

Encouragements and words of praise from the parents act like a charm in motivating the children. So, make sure to always encourage them to face their fears and never hold back praises when they are successfully able to face and overcome a fear. Let your kid know that you are proud of how brave and courageous he is, and he will gain confidence in handling his fears.

We, at Sapphire International School, regarded as the Best Play School in Noida, understand that overcoming a fear is not the easiest thing for a child and it feels disheartening for a parent to see the

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