Bee phobia

[ktw]

Has anyone dealt with a kid with an extreme fear/phobia? My daughter just turned 8, and is extremely afraid of bees. She’s not allergic, she’s been stung twice, and other than the normal pain, had no adverse reaction/circumstances. It’s to the point that she doesn’t want to be outside, and if we are outside and bees are around, she’s pacing and crying. I’m trying to have patience, but it’s very frustrating. Do I seek counseling for her? Is there some other solution?

[madringal]

Ok, so this is totally ridiculous and I am sure it isn't even true, but...my DD2 was the same when she was 5. It was exhausting and down right embarrassing sometimes. Especially since most of bugs she thought were bees were actually flies. Ugh. Anyways, when she was in PreK, her teacher told her that if she stands perfectly still with her arms straight out and her hands in fists, the bees will just fly away. And gosh darn, if that didn't work. She would see a bee (or fly, lol) and immediately go into her stance like a little weirdo, and it stopped her from freaking out.

Now, I think part of the magic is that it wasn't me that told her to do this, but a teacher that wasn't constantly telling her to stop freaking out over bees. So if you can somehow convince someone to tell her about this "amazing trick they KNOW works" it might just help?

Good luck!

[ohgillian]

So, EMDR would be perfect for this if she’s old enough and if I recall even one session can make a difference.

[stemmie]

My kid. He was diagnosed with GAD as a teen.

Bees and flying insects. I got a call from the principal the first week at a new school because he hid in the hall bathroom to avoid recess and they thought maybe I had picked him up. WTF? There was a nest of carpenter bees in the playground mulch and kids were getting stung those first few days.

We did exposure therapy which is a kind of CBT- we started out reading about bees, then watching them from the window, and onto watching them from a distance and so on.

[macmars45]

PDQ

My kid. DS(5) has a counselor and has been doing exposure therapy for his fear of dogs. His school has a therapy dog so currently he hates school. I hate that his school doesn't feel like a safe place for him. Thankfully the school counselor is happy to work 1:1 with him and the dog (it's her dog).

He's also scared of stairs, sharks & swathers. Like mostly outright refuses to even entertain the idea of going up or down stairs, get in any bodies of water or be near swathers/the roads they drive on near my parents' house. We've had minimal successes here and there but it's overall been very trying & frustrating for me. My H is a rock star and seems to have endless patience.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Yes, both of my kids went through a phase of being really scared of bees. We had 2 bushes right outside our front door that often had bees on them in the spring/early summer, and they freaked out anytime they went outside. What helped was MIL giving them some of these bands that repel bugs. We specifically told them they were to repel bees. It was a little bit of wishful thinking (like spraying 'monster spray' from a water bottle when they are afraid of monsters, but since we figured they weren't doing any activities that were actually making a bee sting more likely when they wore the bands, we figured it was worth the gamble. Luckily neither of them got stung and they believed the bands worked, so any time they got freaked out, they put a band on. I kept extras in my purse anywhere we went that whole summer.
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