Bug Phobia

My 2 YO DD is going through this right now. Something happened at my parents house last weekend where a fly kept buzzing around my DD. My older son went over to the fly and yelled at it to "stay away from my little sister you mean bug!". And ever since then my DD won't go near a bug and cries until I come and pick her up.

I just tell her that bugs are nice and I walk over to the bug (if I can) and show her that it's not a big deal. And sometimes my 4 yo son will go over and pick it up (rolypoly's and lizards...yuck!) and tell his sister that it's okay. I think the most important thing is to not make a big deal out of it and feed her fear. Hopefully it's just a phase.

My niece is the same way. There was a lady bug and she yelled "EWWWWW, lady bug" over and over until I came and got it.
See if there are bugs that don't bother her, like lady bugs or butterflies. If there are expose her to those and add from there-caterpillars are baby butterflies, other beetles that are "lady bug cousins", etc.
Either way, I've known several kids that do this and they grow out of it-between three and four, it's just annoying while their going through it.
Good Luck!

This is a learned response, so you need to figure out a way to unlearn it. Perhaps find out more about what happened when the bug fell on her. Maybe somebody said something about the bug being bad or scary. If that same person could correct the idea, perhaps it would help her relax. Also introducing her to harmless bugs (like somebody below mentioned lady bugs) might help her see that bugs aren't that scary.

There are some good bug movies out - how about A Bug's Life or Ants? It they are too long for her to get interested, look for one of those Disney Sing Alongs that have those characters in them. Even some of the old ones have some nice bugs in them. (Jiminy Cricket). Also go to the library and get good preschool picture books about real bugs, to take away some of the fear and mystery. Especially emphasize factual ones about bugs that don't bite, like lady bugs, etc. and the good that they do to our plants, Good luck!

We have tons of salamanders in our backyard and my son screams on the top of his lungs every time he sees one. Even if it is 20 feet away from him. My husband starts playing and showing it to him that it is perfectly safe. He would touch or put it on his shoulder. It took about 8 episodes of this before he trusted the animal and actually start to get close and play with it too. Just make sure you are around her during bug encounters.

Ha Ha my son is going through the same thing! He'll be 3 at the end of June. He's always pointing out spider, telling me he's scared and when he plays outside, he thinks everything is a bee and wants to come in. During a wagon ride,i saw a fly resting on his hand and told him to look at his hand. He screamed to high heaven and said, "let's get out of here!" Thanks to my son, I'm aware of every flying insect, spider and rolly polly in the vicinity. What I do is I reassure him that the bug he sees won't bite and act over relaxed hoping it will rub off eventually. I also showed him books. One thing that kind of works is when my niece made a cartoon-like paper spider and he held it saying "HI spider". Maybe a cute stuffed insect or puppet will help? I don't worry about it much because I'm sure he'll get over it someday.

oh what i'd do if my son were afraid of bugs..you're lucky..mine brings them in the house..over turns all the bricks in the yard to get at them..poured a bucket w/ bugs and dirt on the couch..bugs are icky..you're lucky!

Ha! this happened to my daughter too, like overnight! She is just turning 2. I thought maybe it was because we let her watch "Bugs Life" now she looks at bugs differently? I think it has to do with a new awareness of the world around them as their brains are developing though. If she is freaking about a bug I just acknowledge the fear- "ooh a creepy bug..." and reassure that it won't hurt her and I usually stop and check it out so I model that I am not afraid and that bugs are curious, interesting, harmless creatures we share the world with.

It'll take time... like any child "fear."

What I do with my kids, is (since as a child I loved bugs), is I show them my bug books and I tell them which ones are "nice" and "not nice, can bite/sting" etc. Then it gives them a sense of "knowing" themselves and not just being afraid of ALL bugs.

Also, we go and catch bugs as 'pets' and we have bug bottles which we put them in and care for.

I also get crickets from the pet store and we keep them as 'pets' and so we can hear them "chirp" and it makes the house feel like a rain forest. It's fun.

But, don't force it. Even some adults are afraid of bugs... so, it really depends. It's a tangible "fear" they have.

All the best,
Susan

well my daughter is 2 also and she is ok with some bugs. the first bug she ever touched was a lady bug. what i did is i pointed it out in the yard and picked the bug up. as it was crawling on my hand i let it crawl on hers. i told her thats a nice bug isnt it? it tickled her hand so she said silly bug a bug! but when daddy did this a few days later she freaked out! i dont know why but she only seems ok with me doing it. i also point out bugs that we dont pick up like bees (thank god shes not allergic like me!) and other ones that can hurt her. maybe just continue to take it slowly like you are. make bugs seem friendly and call them silly or something.