Hi. My child is 3 and was attacked by a dog in the summer 😔 we went to hospital and had her injury washed and steri strips put on. Didn't need surgery thankfully.
Since then she has developed an increasing fear when she is hurt. It's not restricting her activities but once she does get hurt, she wants to hide her injury, doesn't want it looked at or treated in any way. She seems to be scared that it might lead to going back to the hospital again.
We are very reassuring when this happens. She just gets the occasional scrape or bump from falling off her scooter but she gets very upset and it takes a while to talk her down, assure her that she will be fine etc.
It dawned on me today I hadn't thought of finding books for her to read about getting injured etc. Had a look online but they were mainly books about preparing for elective surgery which didn't quite seem relevant.
Can anyone please recommend any books that might help here? Or advice about reassuring her when hurt if you have experience.
Oh and regarding dogs... She is obviously uneasy around dogs now. We see them on walks and although she comes close to us when we see them and seems nervous, she always seems happy and says it was a nice dog when they leave. She says she likes dogs on the lead and not off the lead. After the incident we didn't force the issue of discussing it but if she mentioned it, I would ask her to elaborate, help her explore her thoughts etc, rather than changing topic.
Probably crossed the line from not providing enough info and in to writing too much now sorry!