Kid's Fears

Shannon023

Advice please.

My 11-year-old daughter is terrified of bees/wasps. To the point where she won't go outside to play if she sees one off in the distance. :frown:

She's never been stung so I'm not sure where this terror comes from. :ohwell:

I keep hoping by me being nonchalant around them she'll see that they'll generally leave you alone.

Ideas??

JustJennie1

Have you asked her why she's afraid of them?

ket_the_jet

I've never been stung by a bee/hornet/wasp either and so I consider it to be an unsubstantiated fear. In fact, bees are my biggest fear [besides commitment].

At eleven years old, I'd just pinch her and tell her that's what it feels like. But I don't know how intelligent kids are...I was something of a wunderkind.
-wtk

Shannon023

Have you asked her why she's afraid of them?

She's afraid they'll sting her.

Hernandeak11

We were talking about this in our psych class actually. Perhaps she was with a friend who maybe screamed/made a scene around one, and this conditioned her to also be afraid of it?

Having been stung by a wasp, I can attest that it is the most painful thing I have experienced in my entire life! And I've broken bones before! However, I still stay calm around them.

tig_ol_bitties

I was JUST like this! My mom bought a mini spray bottle and filled it with water and added just a *tiny* bit of lemon juice so it had a scent. She then made a label for the bottle that said "Bee-Gone". She told me she bought it at a special store and that the spray would protect me if I ever needed it. Every time I'd go outside, I had that bottle hooked in my beltloops. It's silly, but it convinced me!

elysianashes

I would check to see if maybe a kid at her school was recently stung. If they had an allergic reaction and a big to-do was made, that might have really scared her!

JustJennie1

Have you asked her why she's afraid of them?

She's afraid they'll sting her.

Hmm. Can you maybe take her outside and bring her to something innocuous like a bumble bee and just show her that they're just minding their own business and aren't out to hurt her? And maybe let her know that as long as they're not bothered then they won't bother her.

With the exception of white-butt hornets. Those are NASTY!

dwtouch4

The only ones you really need to worry about are yellow jackets. They cause about 90% of stings. If you see a bee or mud wasp (the brown ones) she has very little to fear. They are not aggressive. As for yellow jackets you can set traps for them that can lure them away from an area she wants to play in.

Alexstrasza

I was JUST like this! My mom bought a mini spray bottle and filled it with water and added just a *tiny* bit of lemon juice so it had a scent. She then made a label for the bottle that said "Bee-Gone". She told me she bought it at a special store and that the spray would protect me if I ever needed it. Every time I'd go outside, I had that bottle hooked in my beltloops. It's silly, but it convinced me!

That is an awesomely adorable idea.

TKHappy

I have one who is afraid of ants, we are talking tears...screams...the whole lot!! Yet she will play with snakes! This has been a life long fear and I just try my best to take her mind of it, make her laugh somehow...it is definitely tuff.

GorillaNJ

My sister goes crazy about bees even now at 30... of course my kids see that and act the same way.

So my approach was not listen to them, and I would pretend that they got stung if a bee was close to them. And point out how it did not hurt. That was working until they hit a hornets nest with a baseball and they each got stung 10 times... so now they know it does hurt, but funny enough. They seem less concerned about it now.

So maybe, get her stung see how she reacts to it!

kechiemc

I would check to see if maybe a kid at her school was recently stung. If they had an allergic reaction and a big to-do was made, that might have really scared her!

This is exactly what happened to me! I saw a dumb kid trying to get a bike near a hornet's nest get attacked. The incident was ugly and scarred me for life until I got stung by a bee while playing softball. I did not notice the bee until he stung me and while it hurt it did not hurt too much so I was instantly over my intense fear. Of course, later at the hospital, I discovered that I was allergic to bee stings. Even though I am allergic, I am no longer terrified of bees, etc.

timmy2strikes

I know we are both in Colorado and if your neighborhood is like mine we are over run with Hornets/Wasps. I have to to knock down 5 or 6 nests every summer. They even found a way into the space between the ceiling and the roof and I could hear them for weeks making their nest before I figured out what it was. A couple of years ago I mowed over an unknown ground nest and they all swarmed out and I was stung about 6 times. It was horrible to say the least.

As far as your daughter... maybe she seen something of Animal Planet of bees/wasps/hornets or a friend of hers was stung or kids just talking at school scared her. Reaffirm to her that everything will be ok. I'm not sure about giving her a squirt bottle. She might spary one and piss it off and then it will sting her. Hopefully it is just a phase she will grow out of.

You may want to take her to a honey farm. I think there are a couple in the Denver surrounding areas. She can learn about bees and how we need them and how they make honey.

If you have wasps definately call someone to come out and spray for them. That is the only way I can keep them under control at my house.

Pengi81

I don't like bees/wasps either

Not as much as I use to be(e?) but I will still panic a bit if there is one quite near me.

I have a bee sting allergy and of the two times I remember being stung as a youngster I went into anthropolactic (sp?) shock - I now carry an Epi-Pen on me but haven't been stung since.

But I feel silly being scared of them - like my mum always says, they are more scared of us than we are of them.

I'm actually finding bumble bees quite cute though as they are just big, fluffy silly looking things.

It's wasps that are evil!

Shannon023

Thanks for all the advice guys!

A healthy fear of wasps is one thing, but I'll have to work on the others. :flowerforyou: