What should you if your child suddenly develops a fear of something? Our parenting expert Dr Pat Spungin looks at the root causes of fear.

Raisingkids member's problem
My daughter who turned two last week seems to have developed a phobia of moving balls, balloons, swings, etc. I can't think of anything that has scared her but any advice on how to deal with this would be welcome.

Dr Spungin's advice
Her fear was probably caused by the unexpected bursting of a balloon which, even though it is not in itself dangerous, automatically triggered a fear response. With adults, as soon as the brain gets enough information to realise there's no danger – (it’s just a balloon) then the fear reaction subsides. With children they can’t take that next step and rationalise away the fear. They don’t have enough experience and the fear response becomes a phobia – an irrational fear.

The fear reaction means your daughter will avoid balloons and she won’t learn not to be afraid of them. The usual way to overcome a phobia is by very slowly facing up to whatever causes the fear in a safe environment. It is essential to start with a very unthreatening version of whatever causes the phobia. In the case of balloons, look at pictures of balloons in a story book. Comment on how happy the children are to be playing with them. Encourage your child to point at the balloons and say what she sees.

The next step could be holding a deflated balloon, or standing at a distance watching other children playing with balloons. In time you may encourage her to touch a balloon but make sure it is well secured and not floating around in an unpredictable fashion. Never force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. The secret is slow and steady and at her pace.

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