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Childhood Fears and Phobia
Children tend to get scared easily and their fears keep changing over time. Being afraid of something is a normal reaction in children since it also teaches them to keep themselves safe. However, there is quite a difference between what a child experiences as fear and when a child has a phobia.
Common Childhood Fears
Here are some of the childhood fears by age that children experience.
Fears of Babies and Toddlers
Sudden loud sounds or extreme movements can cause the baby to be afraid.
A large object suddenly looming into their view could scare them.
Any strangers that attempt to converse with them could cause them to be afraid.
Being separated from parents or changes in their room or surroundings could make them feel in an unknown environment, making them scared.
Fears of Preschoolers
Nearly all fear in kids begins from being afraid of the dark. Some adults tend to get scared of the dark as well.
Any noises that occur at night could get them scared.
Scary masks or weird sounds of monsters and ghosts could cause kids at this age to be afraid.
Most kids like dogs but some of them could get afraid of an overexcited dog.
Fears in Children during School Years
This is where the child starts getting scared of large insects or reptiles like spiders and snakes.
A thunderstorm or earthquake can result in them getting extremely scared.
Being alone at home, especially overnight, could make the child quite afraid.
When it comes to school, angering the teacher, failing a test, or getting rejected by their childhood crush all manifest within children as fear.
Scary TV shows or news incidents of extreme danger can make them afraid.
Seeing injuries or illnesses, doctors and injections, are the usual ones most children are afraid of.
How to Remove Fear from your Child's Mind?
You can help your kids overcome their fears with the following tips.
For Babies and Toddlers
Parental presence can instantly make your baby feel safe from any strange situation.
Establishing a routine can make them understand what actions to expect and when.
In early months, it is important to limit the number of people taking care of the baby so that he has a chance to find a safe place for himself.
For Preschoolers
Most kids at this age are highly imaginative. Hence, even the smallest fear can become a large one fuelled by their own imaginations.
If your kid is afraid of a particular place or so, go to that place with them so that they can see it properly without being afraid.
In case of being afraid of the dark, ask your child to walk towards the other room while counting numbers loudly. You can also count along with him so that he knows he isn’t alone.
If he is afraid of any animal or an overactive dog, make sure the dog is tied down and play with it first. Once the dog is a little calm, you can then bring your child closer and let him play with it.
Ask your child to draw what he feels afraid of. Once they are done expressing, they can start understanding that monsters and ghosts are all inside their head and are not real.
For Children in School Years
Talk to your child about his fears since he would be able to communicate them well.
Ask him what the worst he thinks that could happen is. Then let him know of a real-life incident which wasn’t as bad as he thinks it would be.
When it comes to natural disasters, let your child read books on the precautionary measures they need to take. This will make them feel prepared and not be caught off-guard.
Any other fears can be best overcome by supervised action. If they constantly keep feeling afraid, getting them relaxed or taking a nap can alleviate it to quite an extent.
What is a Phobia?
When fear gets out of hand, becomes excessive, unreasonable, and permanent, and even the slightest situation or possibility of a situation can manifest a feeling of extreme anxiety that is debilitating, this is termed as a phobia. Most of the time such fears stay for multiple months to over a year before becoming a phobia.
How Common is a Phobia among Children?
Many children are known to have one or the other type of a phobia. It is estimated that nearly 9-10 percent of people in the world suffer from a phobia of some sort.
What Causes a Phobia in Children?
Common causes of phobias in kids are:
1. Factors Related To Life Events
Any events that occur in a child’s life that have a major impact on him could result in manifesting as a phobia in him. These could be as normal as the beginning of a new grade in school or shifting to a new place, or as unfortunate as a family member’s death, extreme illness or parental divorce.
2. Factors Related To Family
In certain cases, phobia of certain aspects can be inherited from one of the parents by the kids. Even though it may not always be genetic, kids are extremely observant. On seeing any family member suffering from a phobia, they could be led to believe that they need to be afraid of it as well.
3. Factors Related To Biology
Neurotransmitters within the brain are responsible for communicating with each other, which also results in forming emotions and feelings. Two major entities here are serotonin and dopamine, which are responsible for making a human feel happy and at peace. If they go out of balance, your child can suddenly start feeling afraid of anything at all.
Common Types of Phobias in Children
Here are some of the common types of phobias
1. Specific Phobia
In specific phobia, the child starts feeling afraid of an extremely specific entity, mostly without reason. This could be a particular place such as a closet, or a particular person such as their teacher, or a type of people like taxi drivers, and so on.
Signs And Symptoms
The child may attempt to avoid the entity of phobia or start anticipating that something bad is going to happen without reason. At times, when the object of fear is present, the actions of the child will be completely out of sync and disrupted.
2. Panic Disorder
In such a disorder, a particular event or object could suddenly trigger panic within the child. The cause or the trigger may not be apparent immediately, but the consequence of the panic can be seen in the child’s behaviour. This is majorly present in adolescents and young adults.
Signs And Symptoms
When in panic, the heart rate starts increasing rapidly and your child may start sweating or trembling. Breathing reduces and there might even be discomfort in the chest. In certain situations, the panic can get too strong to handle making them feel dizzy or call out saying that they are going crazy or they are going to cry. On the other spectrum, they can even freeze completely on the spot and go numb.
3. Agoraphobia
This is the same fear of stepping outside your comfort zone but multiplied to gargantuan proportions. The child starts feeling afraid of the outside world and unknown people completely. Any place unknown to them or any stranger can cause them to be triggered and go into a state of panic.
Signs And Symptoms
Children will refuse to leave their homes under any condition or refuse to meet or talk to any stranger or guest in the house. If forced to do so, they may panic or scream out in refusal.
4. Social Phobia
Social anxiety disorder is yet another name for this and is quite rare. This is majorly termed as a fear of interacting with people in a crowd or even fear of children in certain cases.
Signs And Symptoms
Children are filled with mortal fear when it comes to introducing themselves to other people or asking questions in a classroom, going on the stage, or even peeing in a public washroom with other people present. They will also go to extreme measures to avoid being in a situation, lying or even falsely falling ill to skip a particular event or so.
How Can Phobia Be Diagnosed in Kids?
Phobias are usually diagnosed by psychiatrists by undertaking a mental health evaluation of the child. Certain disorders might be apparent on the first visit, some others might take multiple visits and tests to be diagnosed.
How to Treat a Phobia in your Child?
Treatment of a phobia is highly dependent on the child’s age and the extremity of the fear. Most of the times, counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy can help them combat their phobia by themselves. In extreme cases where panic attacks get out of hand, psychiatrists may recommend some medicines that help your child calm down. Parental support is extremely necessary through this phase.
How can you Prevent your Child from Developing Phobia?
Preventing phobias is not exactly a possibility in today’s age. Steps can, however, be taken to nip the fear in its bud before it has a chance to develop into a phobia. Proper parenting plays a vital role in making this happen.
The spread and variety of fears and phobias can seem unnerving to parents. Childhood fears psychology is a developing science and understanding it can take quite some time. Staying vigilant, having open conversations with kids, and building strong bonds of trust are great ways in helping kids combat their fears.
Also Read: School Phobia in Kids Read more
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10 Tips to Make Solo Parenting Easier
Whether you are a mother or a father, solo parenting is tough. You will need to manage everything on your own; your work and an endless list of chores, and, there’s no such thing as an off on weekends. Many solo parents end up in this situation as a matter of chance, and they are seldom prepared for it. Here are a few ways to manage things if you end up being a solo parent.
What is Solo Parenting?
In general, the definition of solo parenting is almost the same as the definition of a single parent - a person who is bringing up a child or children on their own. But unlike single parenting, the term solo parenting is used under circumstances where one of the parents is absent for a period of time, leaving the other with the responsibility of caring for the children solely. Solo parenting is also a term used under circumstances such as if a relationship has ended and the other partner no longer visits the children.
How Different is Solo Parenting from Single Parenting?
Although the definitions of single and solo parenting overlap in some places, the experience of each can be different. Here is how:
Single parents raise their children alone as a matter of choice, while solo parents may not be doing so as a matter of choice.
Single parents do not have a partner to raise their children. Solo parents may be going alone for a brief period until their partner returns.
Why is Parenting Solo So Difficult?
Here are a few reasons people find solo parenting difficult
The circumstances of being a solo parent to many is not a matter of choice.
Children are a handful and if you have more than one, it’s that much more difficult.
Getting some personal or alone time is rare.
You will have to take up the roles of both parents to raise your children.
There is no tapping out. You cannot throw your hands up and say you give up and that you need a break.
You have no back up as there is no second authoritative figure to keep the children in line.
There are only so many things that you can indulge in. Solo parenting has a sacrificial element to it.
It often feels lonely, not having your partner to share your frustrations with or having a discussion over the right course of action.
There is a cultural stigma associated with solo parents as second best or inferior, and the creators of social problems.
Taking up the whole responsibility can be exhausting.
Solo Parenting Survival Tips
If you find yourself becoming a solo parent because your partner won't be around for a while due to unavoidable circumstances, here are 10 survival tips that will come in handy:
1. Prepare Yourself Mentally
Managing your household will get hard, and tougher if you’re working; therefore, be ready for whatever surprises may be thrown at you. If your patience can only last as long as your partner is scheduled to return, use a calendar to mark a countdown of the number of days. It helps.
2. Plan All Meals Ahead
Have a plan for what you want to prepare for the next meal, write it on a sticky note and paste it on the fridge. It saves plenty of time and frustration from uncertainty.
3. Stock Up While Grocery Shopping
If you can plan for more than two days, that’d be wonderful. You can then stock up on all you’ll need and don’t have to worry about running to the grocery store at the last moment.
4. Choose Your Battles
With one less restraining force, the kids will have more energy and room to release it. This may not be a good time to start a new discipline initiative. Instead of cracking down on them, being gentle and gracious works well to settle them down.
5. Plan a Special Outing Every Week
Be it a visit to the amusement park, a museum or the mall, plan a day off as an outing to break the monotony.
6. Reward Yourself At the End of a Hard Day
If the kids are in bed and the house is tidy enough, you’ve done a great job. Reward yourself with your favourite drink or snack, and settle down for some time of quiet and peace.
7. Don’t Stay Up Too Late
When you’re flying solo, you’re on duty 24/7, so try not to get carried away with your reward time. Sleep early and try to maintain a schedule. You will need all the sleep you can get.
8. Keep Your Expectations Low
You may not be able to keep up with everything you normally do when your partner is around to help. So, you may need to sacrifice some of your routines to ensure you have all the essentials covered. Let go of the rest for a while.
9. Ask for Help
If you feel overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to seek help from family or friends. It’s a great morale booster and gets you through the day.
10. Compromise Cautiously
It’s tempting to stock up on fast and easy foods for convenience or eat out often. But it can turn into a habit-forming pattern and is unhealthy. Therefore, compromise on healthy foods only when you absolutely must.
It’s no doubt solo parenting is hard, but being present every moment can help you appreciate the infinite possibilities for the future.
Also Read: Finance Tips for Single Mothers Read more
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Contribution – All the Mom and Dads to be, need to read this as it might help you get through tough times of pregnancy
Right from the start of our pregnancy journey me and my wife had alot of mixed feelings.It was mainly because of the miscarriage we had a few months ago, sometimes we felt that it will be very difficult for us to deal with the amount of pain associated with another pregnancy chance but fortunetly my wife showed the courage and we went ahead and had a baby.Initially we were just too much worried about the negatives and never really focused on the beautiful time of pregnancy which made us miss a whole lot of fun time that we could have had but we were busy worrying about the non sense.I would like to advice each and every Mom and Dad to be out there to literally think ahead and stop thinking about the negatives and focus more on the positives.Me and my wife are having the best time of our life looking forward to the most promising thing ever happened to us.During our current pregnancy we had trouble conceiving because of my wife’s high Thyroid issue but we were guided very rightly by our Gynaecologist Dr.Vaishali Birhade.She was our shining light during our dark period in life.After conceiving, first few months are the most toughest time for any couple as the moms body keeps on going through different changes and she has a hard time dealing with all the changes and managing her daily schedule and maintaining social life as well during this time all the relationship are tested and if you love your partner enough like i did you will be able to go through this period quite easily like we did.Even though second trimester is said to be the easiest and the most relaxing time in pregnancy but from child growth point of view all the child’s important organs like brain, lungs and heart develop in this time so it is very important for dads to be to take care of their moms to be so that she can concentrate on the child inside her.
Stevey Abraham. Dad to be
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Dr Disha Patel has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 6 months
15 hours ago
Q. can I take medicine pcm n citrazene in pregnancy fir sore throats n fever
Dr Disha Patel
Ayurvedic Physician
10 hours ago
A. dear mom.
better to take tab pcm for time being n do take steam inhakation couple of tines a day, follpw good home renedies for cold, taje more rest .
Swati Kar Samanta has added a new answer
Mom of a 9 m old child
9 hours ago
Q. hi everyone good morning,
sorghum can I give to my 10 month baby is it safe or not please revert I waiting for your reply
Swati Kar Samanta
Mom of a 2 m old girl
7 hours ago
A. Yes but first give in very small quantity to judge the reaction of your baby.
Rashmi has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due this month
6 hours ago
Q. #asktheexperts is it okay that the baby is kicking less than usual?
Rashmi
Mom of a 9 yr 7 m old girl
6 hours ago
A. Yes it is the what part is that your child is kicking if you feel that there is a movement of your child whether it is a cake or slight movement also you know that your child is doing fine so there is no problem in that if the movement is less it’s completely alright
Dr Sameer awadhiya has added a new answer
Guardian of 0 children
6 hours ago
Q. #asktheexperts what to do if the baby’s nose is blovked
Dr Sameer awadhiya
Paediatrician
6 hours ago
A. Nasal blockage is very common, specially in small children because of the narrow nasal cavity. Any kind of saline drops like nasal clear will be helpful in dissolving the stuffy secretions, which can be taken out by vnasal aspirator gently also steam inhalation will be helpful also, try to avoid keeping the child directly under the fan.
Ankita Mehta has added a new answer
Expecting Mom due in 4 months
3 hours ago
Q. 22 week pregnant,baby konse month me or din me kitni baar move kartaa he ,pls bataye abhi sirf 2, 3 baar hi hota he
Ankita Mehta
Mom of a 8 yr 7 m old girl
1 hour ago
A. hi
yes it's enough
and the frequency and timing may vary as we all are different
but yes, the frequency of feeling baby movements will increase now
please go for regular check-up to your gynecologist
and follow his or her suggestions
Rashmi has added a new answer
Trying To Conceive
3 hours ago
Q. hi
need help and advice
my RT 18x16mm and LT 10x16mm ET 6.59
and did ovulation rest also showing fertility test C as if now , pls advice if we intercourse tomorrow then when will be my ovulation start.
Rashmi
Mom of a 9 yr 7 m old girl
2 hours ago
A. You can check with an ovulation kit if it is positive then you can certainly go ahead with the conception because ovulation kit is going to give you 100% clarity whether you are ovulating or not with that you can try practising if you can conceive the same time
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