Why has dd1 suddenly become afraid of everything?

[onestepbeyond]

We've just come back from a week away and the only dampener on the week was the fact that dd1 (3.8yrs) has suddenly become afraid of everything. She was scared of the slides, she was scared of swimming, she was scared of any passing dogs. We went on the same holiday when she was 2 and she wasn't afraid of anything - she loved the pool and slides and dogs. She's not had any bad experiences so I don't understand what's happened - do they have some sort of developmental change at this age? It's really upsetting me as I feel she's missing out and I don't know whether to be firm and insist she tries things that I know she'll enjoy or the gentle approach.

I'm not sure if it's a recognised development stage but I do remember DS going through similar. He was suddenly scared of dogs, spiders, fireworks, etc,etc.

Take your lead from her. If you suggest she try something and she gets very upset then don't make her. If she just seems a little reluctant then encourage her to give it a chance.

As DS got older, we explained to him that it's normal to feel worried about certain stuff even when part of us wants to do but if part of him wants to try a new activity/a new game/etc then he should listen to that part of him and not the scared part. It seemed to work.

Thanks Bookaboo. I hope it improves with time. So frustrating as I know she'd have so much fun if she just gave things a chance!