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F

ear is a normal, basic emotion that serves to alert and protect us from dangerous situations. Like all emotions, fear can be mild, medium or intense, brief or long-lasting, depending on the situation and the individual.

Parents often worry about whether their child’s fears are normal or should be cause for concern. While children’s fears are natural and quite real for the child, parents may also fnd them frustrating and diffcult to deal with. Although it’s unsettling, it’s appropriate for children to be fearful at times – just like adults. All children experience fear at some point and, in most cases, these fears are a normal part of their development. Because so much of the world is new to them, kids might fear a variety of things until they understand them and develop better coping mechanisms. Maturity and emotional susceptibility will allow fears to rise and then subsequently disappear with time. Until then, a better understanding of their fears might help you cope.

Common fears

As children grow and change, so do their fears: some fears are very specifc to an age group. In babies, fear is an automatic response that helps protect them. Loud noises, falling and sudden movements can all cause a fearful reaction: they cry and their parents respond by providing the protection they need and crave. Up until about

Perfectly normal, but often puzzling to parents, children’s fears can be calmed with a bit of patience, understanding and creativity, explains Kylie de Vos .

tears for fears

two years, the most common fear that a baby will experience is that of separation from his parent or caregiver. Between the ages of three and six years, children can still fear being separated from parents, as well as loud noises like thunder or the vacuum cleaner. It’s also common for them to fear the dark, sleeping alone, school, strangers, animals and getting lost. Furthermore, as their imagination is working overtime, but with limited reasoning capacity to keep things in check, the thoughts of monsters and ghosts may scare them. Older children, between the ages of seven and 16 years, learn to separate the real from the fctional. They begin to develop more socially oriented, realistic or abstract fears. Fears of children in this age group might include death, fres, school performance, bullies and social rejection. New situations like beginning school or going back to school after an extended break can be a cause for fear, too.

Symptoms

Fear is a trigger that activates a number of physical, mental and behavioural reactions. You might be observing fear in your kids if they avoid an object or situation or cry, or if they experience sleep disturbances or discomfort. They might also make psychosomatic complaints, such as stomach aches or headaches, and/or seek the security of you

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