Fear in children from 3 to 4 years old

Fear usually appears from a very early age, when they still do not understand the world around them. Fear changes throughout the stages of development through which the child passes. Therefore, as they grow they will be afraid of different things. In this way, fear will be common in children and wil

Fear usually appears from a very early age, when they still do not understand the world around them. Fear changes throughout the stages of development through which the child passes. Therefore, as they grow they will be afraid of different things.

In this way, fear will be common in children and will be seen naturally according to the evolutionary stage in which it is. They will be overcome as you recognize reality. On the contrary, some fears can be harmful to the development of the child.

What fears have children between 3 and 4 years

At 3 years the degree of fears and phobias experienced by young children usually reaches its maximum. Your world can be altered by fears related to:

- Monsters in the dark: at this age their capacity for reasoning and memory do not yet have enough "vital experience" to distinguish between the real or the imaginary. Imagination plays tricks on you. They see imaginary creatures, like monsters or ghosts in the dark.

This happens because you experienced a strong emotion in a movie or something happened during the day. This experience usually happens during the night, in the darkness that is where the child feels most vulnerable.

- They are afraid of physical damage: at this age children begin to want to know the cause of everything, they are easily anguished and apply danger to themselves.

At this age they like to jump, climb, explore, although if they suffer a fall because at this stage they are still not very agile, fear of accidents and physical damage may appear. The pain, the blood, the wounds have a lot of impact on him and produce an anguish that leaves them paralyzed.

- Fear of natural phenomena such as thunder, wind, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and other natural disasters can trigger fears in children as of this stage, even in children who have not experienced it closely and have only seen it on TV These fears to be real are more difficult to handle than the fears due to the imagination.

As with the fear of injury when they are two years old, children become easily anguished and apply what they see in others to themselves.

- Anguish over separation: at this stage the fear of separation persists. The difficulty in saying goodbye to their attachment figures lasts over time.

What can parents do?

Fears arise at any time, and new ones appear as they go through new stages. The key is for children to learn to overcome each fear at the time and at the age at which it appears. The parents must help him to avoid that they stay stagnant and that the small one is accumulating fears throughout his growth.

If fears persist, even with the help of parents, it is advisable to consult with an expert.