Phobias - How can we help them get over them?

[RGPargy]

DD (2.4) has a really bad phobia of flies, big or small. If one so much as comes near her she panics and wants a cuddle etc. One happened to land on her the other day and she went near hysterical!

I have of course remained calm through all her phobic episodes and have even got a tissue to pick up a spider, gnat, moth and dead fly and put them in the bin. She hates ants too or any other insect for that matter but it is driving us nuts because it's getting quite bad and i dont want her to develop it so badly to the point that she wont go outside and play, which is her favourite thing to do!

I do feel a little guilty because unfortunately i have a phobia of wasps and bees, and will semi-freak if one comes near me (i.e. dodge indoors to get away from them) so i think she has obviously picked up on this, despite me trying my best not to show my fear in front of her (i am much calmer around bees than wasps!). I also have a phobia of spiders but can that is a bit more controllable because they are generally not flying towards my face!!

Does anyone know of any tried and trusted methods of getting kids (and me?) over these phobias? I think what's made my personal phobia worse is the fact that the wasps this year appear to be really HUGE and mean looking!

Bumping for you.

I'm also scared of anything with more than 4 legs and can't see how I will manage not to pass it on to DD1 (25 months). She's already see me literally run out of the house away from the biggest bee I have ever seen in my life! DH was there btw, I didn't leave her in the house alone

My DD is petrified of fireworks and goes completely hysterical and has been known to stop breathing if she sees/hears them. This even applied when they were on the TV on new years eve. I would love some suggestions as to how to aliviate her fears as it is heart breaking to see her in such a state. Everyone I know loves fireworks so it can't be something she's picked up from someone else!

There was a dead fly on the windowsill yesterday and she kept asking what it was so i told her it was dead and so therefore couldn't fly. She was obviously worried about it because she kept asking about it and repeating that it was dead so i ended up picking it up in a tissue (eeeww!!) and flushing it down the loo. I even had to remove a spec of dirt/dust from her little step last night because she thought it was something horrible.

She hates fluff too - will shy away from it and cry out. Even a clump of cat hair gets her worrying (my white cat moults LOTS!). I can see me having to be a clean-freak at this rate, just so she doesn't freak out at the slightest bit of dust/stray cat hair!!