My 2 year old son is scared to death of bugs what can I do to ease his fears?

Question

my six year old is deathly afraid of spiders, she literally screams her head off when she see's one. My son saw her doing this and now he is scared of them as well. Except one thing. He is obsessed with them, pointing them out constantly. My house does seem to have a spider problem, but I will get back to that. Okay my question is how do I ease his fears and make this stop. and 2 how can I reduce the amount of spiders in my house.

I've actually tried being calm about it, and I tell them they wont hurt him but I don't think he gets it. Even when there isn't one in sight he will say spiders over and over again, in fact he has been doing it now for about two hours. I'm literally about to tear my hair out lol...

Please Parents out there I am in desperate need of some answers...

Answer 1

Spiders,Spiders Spiders Spiders Spiders Spiders Spiders Spiders everywhere ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I don't like spiders either. Grab a spider and show him that there is nothing to be afraid of, or get a book about spiders and read it to them. Ask your daughter not to scream so much when she sees the spiders.  

If you have that many spiders you should get an exterminator, They can kill the spiders spiders spiders spiders. OCD may be the problem to spiders spiders spiders.

Answer 2

Find a few books at the library that make them much less scary and kinda interesting!  Also, I'm sure you can find good videos about bugs too- like Bill Nye the Science Guy or The Magic School Bus..

Eric Carle has several books about bugs, there's also a really cool book about bugs that goes through the whole alphabet, it would spark his interest!!

oh and the movie Charlotte's Web has the spider as good guy :)

Answer 3

I have mild OCD and I also hate bugs. Just continue to remain calm about the situation and try Home Defense Max around the interior and exterior perimeter of your home and use a fogger once a month or as needed ( I get them from Home Depot). I cannot deal with bugs in or around my home either, and the best thing to do is acknowledge his concern and get rid of the bugs instead of getting rid of his fear. Hopefully it will become less intense as they remain mostly out of sight. Good luck!

Answer 4

My son is 2 1/2 & is just getting over his bug 'issues'. We live on a farm so needless to say there are a lot of bugs. Personally, I myself have some bug issues so I just have to be really careful that I don't make a big deal out of the spider that's crawling down the living room wall. I've noticed that if I don't make a big deal out of it neither does he. Also- I think this helped but it was accidental. I found him a cute little T-shirt on clearance one day that had bugs on it- they look real. He was leary of it at first but now he proudly wears his "bug shirt". I think he's starting to finally see that bugs aren't always bad & we are working through it. And as far as saying spider over & over- mine says "what" a million times a day- I think it's a 2 thing! As far as the spiders go- have you tried bug bombing your house? We did ours before we moved in & it made a huge difference. I really don't like using chemicals but I really don't like spider bites either- so something has to give! I'm actually going to do my basement this weekend. You can get these at any home improvement store or Target/Walmart/etc... Just read the directions really good & don't be in the house when your doing this! Also- there is something that you can spread around the outside of your house using a broadcast spreader. It keeps the outside bugs out- my husband does it once a summer just to keep the bugs at bay! Hope this helps!!

Answer 5

oh you poor thing. There is a spider tv show on PBS called Miss Spider's Sunnypatch. That might make spiders seem cute and less frightening.

Answer 6

My son was really scared of bugs also. His dad and I tried showing him that bugs are small and that you CAN step on them. I know it sounds bad but I also could;t handle the screaming. So one day I took him outside by a trail of ants and picked one up. He saw that I did scream or cry. I put it on his finger and then I told him if he was really scared he could step on them. He stepped on a couple but he got the idea that he's bigger and it worked. I did the same with spiders and flys and moths.

Answer 7

I think that it might be early for OCD.  My daughter started in on this at about 2 also.  She is now 4 1/2, and although she is not scared like she used to be, still points them out constantly.  If there are ants, she will freak.  She will not even step over them.  We have fire ants which are not pleasant creatures, so I do not blame her for that.  Have they seen Charlotte's Web or Bugs Life?  My daughter told me that those movies helped her understand about bugs and not to be afraid of them.  Also, there are the Miss Spider Sunny Patch Friends books and show that is is on Noggin.  Those might help.

http://www.noggin.com/parents/miss_spide...

As for the OCD - if you are concerned, talk to his doctor at his next check up.  My husband has OCD too, and we were worried that she would pick up some of  the rituals watching him, and then she is really a daddy's girl.  However, those fears were put to rest when my husband said that he saw her just looking at him once  when he was doing one of his things, like he had lost his mind. ;-)  We had a good laugh about that.  Still, keep an eye on him and discuss any worries with his doctor.

Hang in There!