Thank you for replying.

I am not overly keen on spiders and other creepy crawlies, but I dont react to them, I sort of go eeewwww, then kill them or guide them out of the house.

I ahve tried all the, your bigger than them, they dont bite etc etc.

She is the same with the butterflies, from a distance she think awwww pretty butterfly, but if one was near her she would go insane.  In fact with birds etc, when she sees them flying in the sky, it is wow look at the birds but if we had to pass one in the street she would run away not looking where she is going which can often become a near miss accident.

I am aware it is phobias, but she takes it to other levels of extrememeties, where her reaction to it is going to cause great problems with her peers as they will scare her delibratley with the things she is fearful of to see her react in the way she does.

She is under an Ot for number of similar related issues so i will be bringing this up at the next review.

Have you spoken to your Gp or HV?  Sounds like a phobia but not sure how to get over it.  I assume you have tried explaining to her that there is nothing to be afraid of? Do you react badly to spiders etc?  Maybe she has seen someone you know scared of something like that? My dd had a phobia of people dressed up in oufits like bear/animal costumes and also toys that moved and talked/sang and puppets.  She is now 6 and is still a little nervous of some toys and people dressed up even though she is pretty bright and knows it is just a person in a costume and that a toy is a toy.  But the fear is still there a bit from when she was younger.  I remember one occasion when I was pregnant with her brother, we'd gone to the library and this guy came in in a bear suit for a special reading thing they were doing.  All these tiny kids and toddlers loved it and my dd who was 4 (and has always been big for her age!) lept on me shaking with fear and I had to take her out sat on my bump!  the poor librarians were really sorry!  even though the suit was that bad you could see where it fitted on the mans head.  She has also been terrified at kids parties where they have had entertainers dressed as bears etc. And xmas was a nightmare with all the decorations that move and dance now, it caused a lot of stress. All I can say is that my dd is growing out of it gradually now she can reason it through herself that it is an irrational fear.  But some adults are really scared of spiders etc arent they, and all sorts of silly things.  But obviously it is hard to go out without seeing some sort of insect.  Is she the same with butterflies and 'pretty' insects?  Can you try and deflect her fear into attracting her to the pretty insects?  I would speak to your gp if you cant see a solution, it cant do any harm.  Hope you have some success soon.

Sorry not replied sooner, I was on holiday!  x

...btw, having checked the dates on my thread, yes you did reply on the 27th but as my original post was sent at 1am on the 26th, this was in fact the night of the 25th as I was still up, so it was a couple of days before I got a response.

Which was fine.

But this lady seemed to be feeling a little abandoned and I was merely attempting to validate her feelings but point out that they were in fact probably unfounded.

Sorry OP to highjack your thread but I won't be accused of griping about something/ somebody and not have right of reply. Admittedly I am now griping about having to defend my original intentions, I shouldn't have to.

Titan- you misunderstood the tone of my response to this thread, hope this has cleared things up for you. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.x 

Titan, I was not griping for a moment, only reassuring an anxious parent that not recieving an immediate response does not mean you have just been left to it. If you re-read my post you will see that. There was no need to get on the defensive. You will also I'm sure be aware that I thanked you for your response to my question, it was gratefully recieved whatever the date. Good to know there are understanding and sympathetic people out there willing to take the time to offer support and/or constructive advice, I'm sure you'll agree that one thing none of us need is criticism, we have family  or the voices in our head for that.

i dont think tbh that this is a regularly used forum as it seems to move pretty slowly.  i have no idea what you could do as ive never come across this. dont feel offended that people havnt answered.  and dont say no one can be bothered i think thats a bit harsh.x.  hope it gets better for your lo soon as it doesnt sound nice at all.

If it took a few days for ppl to respond to your post then you clearly were not looking often. I was the first person to respond to your thread, which I answered when I saw it, and if you check the dates, you will realise it was THE NEXT DAY!! not a few days. Don`t expect anyone to respond if all you do is gripe!!

Give it a chance, it took a couple of days before anyone responded to my post about my son's nightmares. I sympathise but don't really have any constructive advice to give. My son went through a phase of being freaked out by the idea of lots of flies in the house, and he got over it, don't quite remember how, just with reasurance and then not making a big deal of it. But like as not the two situations are not comparable. Steve Biddulph (the secret of happy children) says

`1) Be very matter of fact. Be patient bt casual when talking it over. Validate the childs intuition.

2)I a child raises a realistic but remote fear talk about the likelihood of it happening but do figure out with them an action plan - what they would need to do to feel safe again.

3)If they raise an unrealistic fear, tell them so. Don't search under the bed for monsters. ( I could have done with reading this advice myself, me and ds spent 10 minutes last night checking all the rooms of the house for his nightmare baddies - whoops!)

4)If they are constantly fearful, use your listening skills to search out if there is something else troubling them, which they find hard to tell you.

Well that's all I've got. Hope it's of some use. I know it's frustrating when you are worried and seems that no-one can be arsed, but maybe they just have no idea of what you should do and don't want to waste your time. Or maybe they just hadn't logged on today. Hope your problem gets resolved soon, rest assured there will be another one round the corner - there always is in our house! Best of luck.

Gee so sorry to bother you lot here many thanks for your help!!!!!!

My daughter has always had an extreme fear of bugs and flying insects, but this is beginning to impact on our whole life.  If she sees a tiny mark on anything she automatically thinks its a bug and goes into a quivering nervous screaming wreck.

Playing out in the garden is gradually worsening, she approaches everything with caution, she is constantly on the look out checking over everything and if she sees any movement she just stands there and squeals, it isnt normal little girl screams its almost like she is having anervous breakdown.  She has just discovered tiny ants and it has resulted in her being sent to bed she must see bed as her safe haven, as she asked to go to bed once I managed to get her to move off the spot she was frozen to,

She has always been an extremely cautious child, and her fears so far have been odd but manageable, this is just getting a little to OTT and she will reluctantly go anywhere out of the house.