Fear of the Wind

Maybe you can get her a coat with a nice hood or a little umbrella, so she has some control over the situation. You can tell her that she can open the umbrella or put on the hood and it will help keep the wind off her.

Hi L.,

We send kisses to far away family by blowing them into the wind.

A couple of children's books.

"Hugs on the Wind" by Marsh Diane Arnold and Vernise Elaine Pelzel

"Where does the Wind blow?" by Cindy Rink.

All the best!
C.

You may think this is the craziest idea posted, but I would suggest looking into past life questions! I read this book a while back, a real eye opener!

http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Past-Lives-Memories-Affec...

My daughter was afraid of the wind too. (It was the sound of it that bothered her.)

I made up a story about the wind wanting to learn to blow bubbles, but that he blew too hard, There was a squirrel and the sun and clouds and trees and flowers involved.. They all were pretty upset with t he wind..etc. She took the squirrel's advice to forgive the wind for being so noisy.. because it just wanted to play.. ( well you get the gist)

She may be afraid of being blown away, and the other suggestion might be good, along with your reassurance that you're much bigger than any wind.. and will never let go of her.

My son has the same fear. What my babysitter started doing was telling him that he is bigger than the wind. That has been helping out a lot.
Good luck!!

Maybe pinwheels or flying a kite with her might make the wind more fun for her instead of scarey. It sounds like a sensory issue and sometimes kids just have to outgrow them. My daughter was also afraid of the wind until she was about 2 yrs old. She also doesn't like the water in the sink running too fast either or the sound of the exhaust fan in the bathroom(she says it's too loud). Sometimes it's just little quirks they have and I just tell her there's nothing to be afraid of and try to make it silly instead. Good luck!

Maybe a "special" jacket with a hood (like a windbreaker) that would keep the wind off of her face?

buy her little windmills to play with. you know the pinwheels. and other little toys that need the wind, like a kite. then she will see that wind is needed for some things. T.

Have you tried taking her kite flying so this way she can focus on something positive that the wind can be used for? Looking up at the kite can also take her mind off the wind blowing on her. Good luck!

Hmm. Tough one.

Have you tried de-sensitizing her? Especially now that the weather is getting a bit warmer. You might start with something fun & light like a brightly colored cheap hand held fan. Let her have some fun with it & you join in on the "fun," such as making a game of 'catching' each other by blowing air at each other. Let her explore the concept- turning it off and on... slow and fast, etc. Obviously be safe about it though, don't let her stick her fingers in or anything. Then you can try moving 'up' to a real fan. You can also try wind chimes and those fun multi-colored pinwheel things that blow in the wind, etc. If she begins to understand the function of wind and associate positive things to it, it might help.

You may also try and understand the root of the fear. When did it begin? Why? For instance, did she almost get 'blown away' one day or fall & hurt herself or land in mud? In other words, is it what she thinks that wind can do to her that is the root of the fear or more like this wind thing is a strange phenomena she has trouble accepting? If it's the fear of what it 'can do' to her then your approach needs to be more focused on showing her that she is more powerful then say gravity or mud, etc.

I don't know, those are my thoughts and suggestions. Hopefully it helps. It's good that you're paying attention to this and not just dismissing it. And my biggest advice is along those lines, don't just simply dismiss it (or let other people do so) by patronizing her and making her feel ridiculous about it. For her, it is a legitimate fear. Above anything else, you have to legitimate her fear and her feelings. So instead of "what are you so scared of, stop being silly it's just a little wind," it's "mommy can see that you're scared. I'm sorry that you're feeling that way. I would like to help you be less scared. Would you like that, to stop being scared of the wind?" and then say and ask more things to encourage her open-ness about it. I know she's young and will have limited vocabulary to express herself, but it doesn't mean she won't understand & be able to hold on to the fact that you legitimately care and are concerned about what she's concerned about. Good luck!

The wind might give her an earache. I know it does me. I have to wear a hat all the time. Even a warm wind will hurt my ears. Maybe some baby earplugs will help.

My son was afraid of the wind too (he's 25 months now). We've shown him the wind can be fun (and even when I mention the "FUNNY WIND!" that's how I say it. Between the encouragement, bubbles, and kite flying he has gotten over his windy worries. The last windy day we had I remembered him and just took him out to the car and spun him around in a circle while holding him and announced "WEEEEEEEEEEEE! It's a WINDY DAY!" He actually started laughing.

Hi L.
Has anything ever happened to your daughter in the wind that is making her react this way? Has she seen things on TV that have scared her? I'm sure you've tried explaining wind to her. It's a tough one. Maybe if you don't make an issue of her making an issue of it it will change? I know that my daughter from the time she was about 3 she became deathly afraid of thunder. To the extent of hysteria. She had no control over her behavior and reaction to it. I just had to go after her (if we were outside because she'd go out of her mind and run aimlessly screaming and crying) and try to reassure her. I had never seen anyone react to thunder the way she did. Any time there was a thunder storm she'd be in bed with us. She used to get up very early every morning about 4:30 or 5:00 to watch the weather report. She would come in to me every morning and give me the weather report. Then all of a sudden it did stop but it was not until she was about 8 or 9. Have you talked to her dr about it? Maybe making up a story that wind helps to clean the trees and flowers and the birds and squirrels love it. Tell her if feels good on her face. Maybe when you are out in it you can get her to relax and feel the wind. Ask her why she is afraid of it. Let her see that it doesn't hurt that it feels good. I don't know what else to say. Good luck and maybe let me know how you make out with her.
D.