Please tell me he'll grow out of this . . . . . . .

[JonesTheSteam]

DS (2.6) has recently become a complete wimp about the slightest things.

Today he cried and screamed because he saw an ant as we were getting into the car. He kept saying 'Ant ... scared', all the way to school and then kept stopping as were walking DD into the gates because of the 'ants'.

He freaked out earlier because I had the hoover on.

He then freaked out because he thought he saw an ant in the hallway (speck of dirt!)

He is turning into a complete whuss - last week he wouldn't even go on the swings in the park. He used to love them - it was highly embarassing, I queued up with him for ages so he could have a go and then had to take him off immediately because he freaked out and cried.

It's driving me nuts - has anyone else's DS grown out of this!!!

[Bugmum]

Personally, I would deal with it quite brusquely - "I really promise you, ants are nothing to be scared of, they're actually interesting". Although I totally accept that teasing has worked for other mums (not criticizing anyone here!), I wouldn't myself laugh at a child or tell him/her they are being silly, as I experienced this when I was a child as humiliation, and it reinforced some negative behaviours in me. That might be because I'm just that kind of person and most kids are probably completely fine with being teased out of a fear, but I wouldn't risk it myself because of what happened to me

[EandCsmum]

My 4 1/2 yr old dd is a real wimp about anything. She is a complete hypoconriac and the tinest bump will have her in floods. V annoying as i'm forever bumping into things myself. I wouldn't mind if she'd ever had a major accident and this had scared her but she hasn't. Favourite response? Come and tell me if it falls off!

[lanismum]

awww bless, maybe he just hates ants! my brother is terrified of spiders and moths and screams like a girl when he sees the, hes 20

[JonesTheSteam]

And the thing is he's not a wimp about other things, like getting physically hurt - if he falls over, he just gets up and gets on with it.

[JonesTheSteam]

In the case of the swing - I had to take him off - all the other parents were looking at me as if I was torturing him.

Even DD swinging beside him didn't make him want to do it.

The ants thing outside school this morning was really irritating though. He kept trying to pull me the wrong way and even though he's only tow and a half, he's really strong. In the end, I had to stop and crouch down and tell him to stop being so silly. He was then really tearful!!!

I've tried ignoring the hoover thing - he even pushes it around when it's not on. I think it must be the noise - he doesn't like white noise - eg. telly on wrong channel, hairdryer etc., so maybe he's just got sensitive ears.

[TwiglettTheWereHedgehog]

what do you do when he wimps out?

DS went through a phase of it .. I just ignored him / laughed at him .. he snapped out of it eventually

[hunkermunkfish]

DS1 is scared of leaves...

That doesn't help you, but it helps me to know there are other wimpy toddlers out there - thank you!