The world is a big, foreign place. For your little one, this often brings happiness, fascination – and fear.

In fact, toddlers face a range of fears throughout their childhood. Whether it’s of spiders, heights, ghosts, or innocent clowns, your child will at some point in their early years be afraid of something.

As a powerful emotion, feeling this fear is practically inevitable – but as a primal emotion, it can be tamed and controlled, till your child learns how to cope with the fear realistically, instead of letting it irrationally debilitate their entire lives.

This is where parents take the three most important initiatives to help their children learn how to deal – and eventually overcome – their fears.

1) Recognise Signs

Your toddler won’t talk about their fears as soon as they develop them. More often than not, it is up to the parent to notice the signs that something is stressing them.

Obvious signs include restlessness, irritability, or anxiety. More extreme cases are symptoms of stomach pains, lack of sleep, or loss of appetite, especially if such symptoms show up only because of a certain event. Always waiting for your child to approach you with their fears may worsen the situation – so keep an open eye to notice any odd behaviour. If it exceeds levels of normalcy, then it’s time you intervene.

2) Acknowledge Them

The most debilitating thing about fear is that it hampers even the ability to talk about it out loud; for a toddler, this kind of internalisation only worsens their mental and emotional state.

In order to avoid this, always acknowledge your child’s fears, no matter how odd or persistent they may be. Accepting that they’re viable emotions, and that must be dealt with instead of dismissed will allow your child to accept their own emotions as valid. Being given this importance will enable them to be more willing to not only talk about their fears with you, but also work towards solving it.

3) Kill With Logic

Perhaps the major reason fear itself exists – and persists – is because it stems from fear of the unknown. Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., author of Freeing Your Child From Anxiety, explained this concept quite subtly by saying how a preschooler “can often concoct some scary explanations for things that he’s not sure about.”

So how do you defeat fear? By logic.

As soon as you realise your child’s fears, show them the harmless reality; how a dog won’t bite them, or that they won’t fall under the water when inside their bathtub. Keep your tone soft and convincing, without being condescending. Revealing the logical side of their fears makes them feel empowered enough to be in control, rather than letting their fear control them.

Of course, logic won’t strike their tiny worlds straight away. Instead of forcing it on them, let them understand it themselves. A great way of doing that is by incorporating some fun through games, role-playing or pretend-play. For example, if they’re afraid of dogs, show them funny videos of puppies. If they’re afraid of the dark, pretend that their lamplight is a wizard’s wand that can make the dark vanish with magic!

By adding that fun element, children become more comfortable while dealing with their fears, and easily realise how there wasn’t much to worry about since the beginning.


It also helps your child if they’re exposed to a constructive environment, where they can explore and learn about their surroundings boldly, with no negative consequences. Fortunately, nurseries in Dubai Marina do offer that benefit; Oakfield Early Learning Centre takes it a step further by ensuring a safe learning space where their fellow students are motivated, and their teachers are helpful. This way, children get to experience the world without letting fears fester.

People should be able to control their own thoughts – including your little one. So give them that power by helping them conquer their fears with bravery.