I don’t know what to do about my son. He’s seven and scared of just about everything. For example, he won’t walk down the hallway if the cats there, he says he’s scared she’ll scratch his buy he’s never been scratched by her before. He won’t put his head under the water in the shower because he’s scared he’s going to get water in his eyes despite the fact he wears goggles in the shower. He’s scared to try anything, and he just thinks of the worst-case scenario with everything. Just after some advice or helpful tips, please. Thanks
Have you had him tested for anything? Like autism or Aspergers ? May be that
Sounds like he has some anxiety. My suggestion would be to see a therapist.
How much time does he spend playing games via internet? Which games?
Sounds like my 5 year old, i wouldn’t read too much into it he could just be a cautious child and in my opinion that’s not a bad thing x
Perhaps a doctor or counselor?
Sounds like your baby has anxiety or is just a timid fella
I’d check screen time in general and reduce drastically. I’d make sure y’all aren’t watching news or anything like that while he is around and I’d definitely get him to a therapist ASAP. Good luck!
Sounds to me like he was babied an awful lot when he was a baby🤦♀️just what I did with my boys make them try it with you an after a little bit he will either enjoy it an want to do it more or he wont like it an will tell you. But has to try EVERYTHING at least once. That goes for food,drinks,water, ANYTHING
Always encourage him to try.
This is anxiety. He needs to see a therapist.
get him in to see a theraoist
It sounds like anxiety. I found a couple of good books on Amazon that helped my daughter. I’ll link if I can.
Could be anxiety…Any other issues…I see someone has mentioned Autism but theres an anxiety based Autism called Pda…Its only just starting to be recognised by all medical professionals…Its slightly different to traditional Autism traits but still Autism…It may not be that just a thought…Maybe read up on pda traits and see if it makes any sense
It kind of sounds like autism or anxiety but I would get him in the doctor and get check out but I am not doctor but my nephew was the same way and got check he was had autism but keep on trying to get him do thing that dose not to
I have have anxiety and not afraid of anything besides some crawling insects
I would try to get him into some counseling. Something is obviously not right for a kid that age to be that afraid with out some underlying trauma. My 9 yr old is kinda that way. Not as extreme tho. He had a traumatic experience a couple months ago, he and his two older brothers (13 and 15) were followed home by a creepy guy who was saying messed up things to them. They rode home as fast as they could. The guy followed. Luckily my husband myself and two of our friends were outside and ran the guy off. My son has been terrified to sleep alone in the dark, or with his window open ever since. We had to buy him a night light and a very secure window fan to get him to sleep again. He’s still kinda scared, but not like he was. There is obviously something there that counseling will address and a counselor can also give you tools to help him cope and you cope as well. We asked my son what would help him feel safe, we did what he asked for. And things have gotten so much better.
Look up Generalized Anxiety Disorder. And talk to a pediatrician or therapist.
Have you allowed him to not do certain things or adjusted things to him not wanting to do a certain thing a lot? Could be he’s using it as an excuse… just cause he doesn’t want to do said thing or could definitely be some type of anxiety disorder. If it were my child I’d talk him to the doctor.
Sounds like my 7 year old daughter! She is a nervous nelly! Same things you have stated along with seeing a fly and running away, would never climb a tree, she’s scared to hop out of a car if her feet don’t touch the ground from sitting position. Lots! She was diagnosed with Autism at 18 months and has since been dx’d with anxiety. Such a sweet girl too!
My son has the same problem but I went and had him tested and he has got inside and depression and he is autistic
You need to seek medical help for him. They’d be able to help you the most
Anxiety and depression
I have generalized anxiety and think the worst case scenarios maybe get him checked out for an anxiety disorder
He needs therapy and treatment for anxiety
Absolutely sounds like he needs to see a therapist to work through this.
My son 10 after his car accident he scared of everything. I don’t know what to do. He his therapist and on anxiety meds but it ain’t helping
Sounds like he is sheltered and doesnt have enough experiences to build confidence from
Could be something or could be a learned behavior. If I say I’m scared I won’t have to… Etc. Which is common in little ones but now it’s become a habit.
Hmmm… while I do think it should be brought up to a professional I’m on the fence with how “out there” this is… my 8 year old has gone through several phases of fear. Latest one was he wouldn’t go outside to play for fear of wasps. He’s never been stung. However it does pass. At 4 he suddenly became terrified of the sound of things cooking, especially frying. He was never hurt. Fear of the unknown is a real thing. My kids have always been scared at that age of getting soap in their eyes… is he able to be talked down? Is it a full tantrum or meltdown? Some people are TERRIFIED of dentists and others don’t care. There are things you can try at home for exposure. Because as he has successes with NOT being hurt it should get better bit by bit.
I have the same problem with my 10 year old son.
Turns out he is autistic.
Try to get your son to a pschycologist or ADHD clinic.
Good luck.
My daughter is like this too, won’t go in the water at the beach, won’t put her head underwater, won’t try new things…won’t get on any rides at Disneyland…it’s annoying I hope she grows out of it
Have him just try or do it with him. Idk i get annoyed sorta mine are just scared of bugs lol and im a tom boy but im not funna lie my son was scared of the shower made him do it once and loves it. The pool scared bc he didnt like his feet not touching threw him in (not literally) and now cant even get him out with out kicking and screaming sometimes you just gotta show them theres nothing to be scared of. My oldest is 8 and anything flying is a bee or ants:roll_eyes: she puts the fear into my 3yo but now he knows that bees are yellow and flys are black and just squishes ants. So hes not scared anymore. Maybe someone else is scared and he sees that?
Sounds like my nephew I think my nephew suffers from some sort of anxiety. Hes a very smart boy he gets all As and hes the sweetest little guy but he freaks out so bad and hits a high pitched yell out of a horror story for simple things. I think it had alot to do with him never experiencing pain he hardly ever goes outdoors and is always engaged with tv or tablet his social skills havent been used at full capacity so I think its fear of the unknown. I do notice however that easing him into it by showing him my kids or i can do it and what i do or my way of doing it kinda prepares him to transition into trying it to and it works hes also an only child. Place him around more kiddos and as hes playing hell forget those thoughts and just go with the flow of running.
Anxiety can be a co-occuring for other things like autism, sensory processing disorder, and even adhd.
Personally I would reach out to your childs doctor for help on managing this. That doesnt necessarily mean jumping to medication but counseling might help.
To the two people who have reacted to this post with a laughing face. SHAME ON YOU!!! This is not funny. This poor mother is trying to get help for her son and you’re either making fun of her or her son. Fucking shame on you!!!
You did the right thing asking if anyone has experienced similar things with their children. If it were me I’d set up a few appointments with therapy, doctors etc. Get a few different opinions as well. I hope things get easier for your little one.
I wonder if a friend has chased him with a cat? A friend did that to me with their snake and it created this horrible fear for me. Maybe a family members cat has scared him? Or a movie?
Definitely look into anxiety. Etc. I truly hope things get better for him
Counseling can be helpful to everyone of any age. I would consider it if his anxiety is interfering with his everyday life.
My son was like this and is still skittish. But is much better. He is 13 now. He has anxiety and for a while bad social anxiety. We used medicine for about 2 years. Do not try to treat yourself. Seek a professional. They so sell anxiety workbooks on amazon which do help. Taking small steps help. Always encourage but never push. He will be fine.
Praise praise praise. Keep praising him and rewarding him each time he does a step toward a fear. Small steps. For instance if he was afraid of toothbrush in his mouth start small have him just hold it for a few seconds at a time and praise him for doing so… then move on to let toothbrush touch his lip … praise and do that til comfortable. Then maybe work next on it touching a few teeth… it can be a process , yes time consuming but baby steps…
Anxiety, for sure. It may be more than that, or develop into to more than that, though. He may even be on the spectrum. Regardless I would take him to his doctor and get a recommendation for a good child psychologist. Get that poor baby a diagnosis and start treatment so he doesn’t have to live his life in constant fear. That must be so hard on his little body.
Wow. Unless you as a parent have given him any reason to be afraid of these things there is a serious problem. Get him in therapy. If you want to avoid medical intervention put him in wrestling because that may at least toughen him up a bit or maybe even football. It sounds like he is majorly babied and coddled and this should have been handled 5 years ago because I’m sure this didnt just happen all of a sudden overnight.
My daughter is almost 10 and sees a therapist to help her with this, along with other issues. She was 5 when she asked to see a talking doctor. She is extremely intelligent and part of her anxiety stems from this. She doesn’t just see the fork in the road per say, she sees all of the paths the fork could lead to.
This doesn’t mean you have done anything wrong as a parent or that you’re son is wrong for his feelings.
My daughter went from being outside all of the time and always wanting to try new things to never leaving my side and being terrified of everything. (This was brought on by the death of her sister, with the death of our dog following close behind.)
Find a good child therapist and talk with them. Make sure it is one your son will feel comfortable with. (I take my daughter to a woman.) Talk to your son before hand and let him know you are going just to talk and that this is a safe person to talk to. Before you go it’s helpful if you write yourself a note with when you first noticed the behavior. If something of significance happened near that time, etc.
I know this is hard. Be kind to yourself and have patience with your son. It will work out, it may just take a while.
Why would you give him goggles for the shower?
Now that’s another habit to break when you could have eased his fear with educating him about how it’s perfectly safe for water to get in your eyes
I agree. Probably will start to grow out of it at some point. I’d say give some mild push back. My son is a scaredy cat as well. 8 years old. But getting Better between the explanations of things and his dad telling him to get over it forcing some things.
Check out the book There’s a Bully in My Brain. It’s fantastic for fearful and anxious kids. Biggest thing is to not make him feel bad over his fears because to him they are real and valid. One doesn’t have to have been attacked by a killer clown to have a fear of clowns or have fallen off a 20 story building to be afraid of heights.
My youngest is almost 13 and is still a fearful child. He is a very tender headed child his sister could throw a shirt at him and He would say “ouch” He is afraid of flies and bugs we live in the Mountains but he is still so twitchy about things. Make it worse this summer he had his first two real injuries He broke his arm skateboarding now he wont skateboard he broke his nose on the trampoline now he wont use the trampoline. Not sure how to get him over this stuff my other kids are NOT like this at all.
My seven year old daughter is the biggest scaredy cat ever like won’t go to the bathroom or shower alone won’t go downstairs alone won’t get dressed alone won’t even flush the toilet cuz she’s afraid of the sound lol she’s just extremely jumpy and always has been
He might have general anxiety and that is why he always thinks of the worst things. Maybe consider play therapy or get him a natural product for anxiety and see if it helps
There’s a good possibility he will grow out of it. I’d look into further if you don’t see any improvement in a couple years
He will likely grow out of most of the fears hes experiencing. Try to get him to bond with the cats during the day. Have him play in a sprinkler, that may help him realize water wont hurt his eyes. Help him face his fears in a happy, positive way.
Many churches offer completely FREE family counselling services
Have you tried walking him through the things that you want him to do for ex. Holding his hand and walking down the hallway with him past the cat to show him he will be ok, or with the shower have you tried a hand held shower head so he can be in control of the water more
Sounds like he has some anxiety. I have a child that has a lot of anxiety and always is scared. I tried lots of things but nothing seemed to help to much until she started seeing a therapist.
Have you considered therapy? They might be able to teach him some coping mechanisms for his anxieties
My youngest was like this and I invented ‘magic spray’ totally pretend, but we’d spray it down the hall to make it safe. Sprayed it on the cat so he wouldn’t scratch or bite, sprayed the shower b4 getting in. I’d always say you’ve got the power it’s your magic spray. Within 6 weeks she didn’t need the ‘pretend’ spray!!
I like the suggestion about the games he might be playing. If he watches or uses an iPad or tablet I would keep a close eye on what he watches, especially the ads that come up. They aren’t always censored and for a small child could definitely cause anxiety.