scared 3.5 yo

[dsg11]

My 3.5 yo son has always been quite scared of new things, noises, me leaving the room. Lots of small things get him very upset. It's recently started to affect his previously excellent sleep as he wakes in the night and is scared to be alone. Is there some kind of expert I can talk to about this? I have mild anxiety issues and don't want him to end up like me! TIA

I think it mostly sounds quite normal and as long as you keep calm yourself and reassure him that he is safe and that you are always there if he needs you, he should be fine.

My son was afraid of hand-dryers in the public loos for a very long time. He was terrified of them, then one day when he was 6 I saw him go over and use one like it was the most natural thing in the world. I was gobsmacked.

I'm not surprised it's got worse at this sort of age, 3ish is often when previously confident happy-go-lucky children can start to develop a more nervous temperament because their mental development has advanced to the point that they realise that sometimes bad things happen, sometimes they can get hurt.

Lots and lots of reassuring - and get some story books where there's a scary thing that turns out to be a new friend, or someone's mother, etc (it's been a common theme in many library books we've had over the years but sort I don't have titles/authors).