bee and wasp phobia

[benanddaisysmum]

Hi All,
In the last 3 weeks my 3 and a half year old has developed a serious fear and phobia of anything that flies, because he thinks it is a wasp or bee. If a wasp or bee comes within 10 feet of him he becomes absolutely hysterical and difficult to calm down. It is such a shame for him because he loves playing outside in the garden but he is now refusing to go outside on his own. Even if I go out with him he runs indoors as soon as anything flies near him. Unfortunately having a 5 month old aswell stops me from spending every playing minute with him. I have tried insect repellant with no success and am now getting really concerned that it could develop into a permanent phobia. In this lovely weather it is becoming really hard to entertain him inside - we are both starting to get on each others nerves.
Any ideas for getting over this or will he just grow out of it?

Has he been stung? Only thing I can think about is making bees seem lovely (but no touching!) maybe go to a zoo with an insect house?

Hmm my 5yo has started being slightly like this - has picked up from adult concerns. Can you develop a strategy to deal with it. Say if we see a wasp we will take this action and say this while we are doing it, that sort of thing.

benanddaisysmum, my dd was stung by a bee 2 or 3 weeks ago and has also developed a major fear of any flying insect. She is constantly on edge in the garden and I have to hold her hand so she can walk past the certain plants which attract the bees. She also keeps asking questions about bees/wasps which I answer as postively as I can (bit easier for me to do as she's nearly 2 years older than your ds).

No advice really, just sympathy - it's kind of ruining her summer holiday

Give him a squirty bottle with water and 'herbs' (grass) to squirt them if they come near him. He will not feel so helpless against them then.