Child Fearful of Being Outdoors

I read that you can take a spray bottle & fill it with water/colored water & tell her its "spooky spray remover" Have her take tthe bottle out & spray the trees & weeds/area and it makes the spookys go away. I tried it with "magic" lotion. I rubbed it on my daughters belly at night to keep the spookies away...shes only three though. Good luck.

Hi K.,

Go to your local child development center and ask them what are some good ways to handle this situation.

Good luck. D.

We get a lot of animals on our property - everything from birds and squirrels to deer, skunks and groundhogs. Most of the animals don't come around when we are outside but we have taught the kids that all animals found outside are wild animals and they are to stay away from them. We also tell them that the animals consider us to be "wild" and they want to avoid us as well. For the most part those discussion have served us well. However, my son (age 5)recently had a dream about a skunk getting into our bathroom and spraying him, so now he refuses to go there alone. We have had some success with spraying air freshener that we call "skunk spray", saying it keeps the skunks and other animals away. Maybe Nana could keep a spray bottle filled with "animal spray" (maybe colored or scented water) on hand and show your daughter how she sprays the yard to keep the animals out of her yard. Otherwise, we try to reason with him and be understanding. I will admit it is frustrating, though.

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K.,
well; something she saw, heard, felt made her afraid [ if this is new at age 4 yr.]
you have to go back[ pretend she is 1 year old] start over ...
- get the happy skippy animal book[ any will do]
- get the happy skippy 'little bear' dvd
= walk her backand forth to ' woods' over and over .
= get her a flash light , a neon vest, anything to help her feel ' safe safe' googles, jumbo hat, [ think 'Indian Jones' ]
=build up her confidence .. over and over
gotta do this or no more nana !!!!!
make it all fun ....she is a sensitive soul [ what upset her may mean not a thing to you ]
let her tell you what scares her .....
be calm . keep her safe ...
grammy

I take it that you are the Nana in question ? :-) This can be heartbreaking, but there are things you can do about it. One is to get books with lots of pictures, and learn about the animals in the woods. Take her to zoos, where she can see different kinds of animals. Talk about the woods, what is there, what you see. Talk about how the trees make shadows of shade and keep your yard cooler. Tell her that the animals like it IN the woods, and they don't come into your yard.

Do you have a bird feeder, so she can watch the birds ? Where we live, we get lots of cardinals and goldfinches, and they are SO pretty, we all stop to watch the feeder when we walk by the kitchen.

The more we learn about the things that scare us, the less fearful we are. (This is being said by someone who backpacks in the wilderness in spite of being mortally afraid of the wildlife when she goes to sleep -- or doesn't)

When your granddaughter does come, play close to the house. If you need to, make a LINE of somekind that the "animals" won't cross over. Even if it's just a string on the ground, or something -- tell her you put it there because the animals will see it and smell it, and they will know not to come in the yard. (yea, it's meaningless to the animals, but she doesn't know that, and my guess is that you don't have bears or other woodland creatures wandering into your yard like my neighbors do)

Work your way through the fears. That's the best way to deal with them. :-)

Hi K.,
Have you talked to her about her new feelings? For example "You seem bothered when we walk close to the woods." See what she says. Maybe they read a book at school or she saw a movie about a forest or such that she did not like. If she still plays outside most of the time I would not be too concerned. Perhaps at Nanas she could look out of the window at the trees to get more comfortable. comfortable. Then look by standing at an open door. Then stand outside of the door with someone until she is ok with that. Try not to make too big a deal about her discomfort so that she does not feel that something is wrong with her and create more anxiety. Lastly I am not a fan of "monster spray" Or other wording off remedies. I feel that they reinforce to children that there is something to be afraid of.