2 Year Old Scared

Why don't you try to pull up a fireworks show on youtube and show him what it's all about. It's very understandable that he is scared. You just need to find a way to make him ok with the noise. Maybe a cute "BOOM BOOM Fireworks" song or something? That's what we did for thunder when my son was first afraid of it. Now he is teaching the song to his little sister. We sing it to the 80's tune "Dr Pepper give me some news..." Silly, but it works.

Talk about timing. Did he watch the fireworks? It could have helped if he saw them with you and you could have explained how it was so loud but that its also beautiful lights. You could make a game of covering each others ears and making silly faces. Hold him against your chest and cover his other ear with your hand. Tell him there will be fireworks on the 4th so you'll play that game.

I didn't have the exact situation, but I had a situation where my son was scared so I can give you some basic advice you can try... Listen to my story and then I'll explain an idea of what you can do...

When my son was a bit older than yours (I think he was 3 because he was talking pretty well), we went to a Halloween festival and took the hay ride. There were an awful lot of kids so I really did think it was just going to be a hay ride, but it was Halloween so duh it was a "haunted" hay ride. So while we were riding along this lovely ride, out from the bushes/behind trees pops out people in masks to "scare" us. The masks weren't bloody or scary-- most of us sort of laughed, but of course it caught my son off guard and he was terrified. I thought fast and grabbed the only thing I had besides a bag of candy: a small flash light we had brought with us. I handed it to my son thinking if he had some light maybe the darkness wouldn't scare him so much (even though the ride was well lit)--- so he grabbed the light and suddenly got really brave -- he held out the light like it was a sword or something and said, "Where are they NOW?!!!" like as if to say "bring it on, I can handle this!!"

My point is that having that flash light in his hand made him feel like he had some power and was in control. Even though he couldn't control when someone would pop out of the bushes, he felt like when it happened he had something in his hand that made him feel brave so he could "protect" himself.

I know your son is a bit younger, but I feel like he needs something to feel like he can protect himself from the scary noises coming from the roof. There WILL be more fireworks and thunderstorms, so you need to get prepared. You can either give him a flash light, or a spray bottle (empty or with water), or a sword or whatever you can think of. Since he is so young, maybe YOU can start off by holding the object to model how he can use it. Walk around with it while he is clinging to you and hold it out as if you are ready for anything since this object will keep you safe. You can go for a hunt for scray noises. Take him along and every single sound you hear you can say, "What was that??!!... Oh, it was just the washing machine. Good thing I was holding this ___ to keep me safe. Do you want a turn with it??" Then pick him up and hold him and walk around with him while he's holding it and look for more sounds --maybe have your husband in another room making some noises if you can't find any, like have him drop a big book on the floor--- act a bit scared and then say, "Oh, silly me, It was just daddy dropping a book. Good thing we had the ___ with us. Now I know that noise isn't so scary."

If you want to try the spray bottle instead, some people use it as a monster spray. You spray the invisible spray (empty bottle or water if you are brave enough to let everything you own get sprayed-- haha) into the air to keep monsters away. The spray can't keep the noises away, but it can keep him "safe" from the noises hurting him.

Thunderstorm sounds can be very scary. My mom still gets nervous and scared from them!! So since he is too young to understand that the sounds themselves can't hurt him, you need to find a way to help him feel empowered to feel safe without being attached to you at all times. You may even want to combine the above idea with a new stuffed animal. Bring him to a store and let him pick one that he feels will protect him. Have him hug it when you can't be there-- like start with the bathroom and say you have to go potty so he needs to hug the animal while you are going potty-- and hope that will eventually help him be better about giving you a bit of space since the animal can replace you at least every now and then!

it just thundered here and my 2 1/2 yr old is in my lap saying, "I'm scared". He's scared of thunder, cats, dinosaurs, etc... It is a normal thing for their age to be afraid and you just have to comfort and explain it's not scary. Don't let bad habits form because of it- like sleeping in your bed and staying up late because he's scared.

I found a "Tiny Bear Bible" it is a soft cuddly bear Bible that he can sleep with and it has cardboard 2 yr old appropriate Bible stories of protection, safety, and love.
We also say our prayers before bed and tell our children that God keeps them safe.

My 3yr gets scared too by thunder or fireworks. Talk in a calm and soothing voice and try to show him what was making the noise and in the house all is well.

There is a great Clifford epsiode that helps. My daughter loved seeing the fireworks from far away of course but as soon as i set a few off. Forget it. The previous year wasn't so bad, we had her friends from the nieghborhood cuddling up altogether.

We try to distract her with other stuff but if its bed time, we let her sleep with us. She is starting to calm down a bit.

It takes some time.

my grandson went through the same thing when he was about 18 months old, the next day, same thing, thunderstorm same thing. i know i will sound crazy, but while the thunder was booming and he was screaming and terrified, I went to the pantry, took out a bag of microwave popcorn, handed it to him and let him put it in, I operated the buttons and we watched the bag of popcorn pop together and make noise. I started sayin "pop! Pop!, boom! boom!" while pointing to the window of the microwave as the bag went round and round, he started to do it too. when it stopped popping, i opened it up, let him see and smell and eat peices, i had broken the husk from and he was fine from there on, now this may not work on your little one, but i just didn't know what else to do. when he wanted popcorn he would say, pop pop boom boom until he was about 21/2. good luck.

jen

The first time my son acted like he was scared of thunderstorms, I brought up the movie Cars (which he LOVES). They say something in there about how thunder always comes after lightning. Somehow, this made my son think that the crashing noise was "race car noise". At least he wasn't scared of it anymore. If your son is pointing at the roof, he might be scared that the sound is coming from the roof and could happen again anytime. If it's possible, take him outside to see the roof or even up to the roof to show him that it isn't scary.

The idea of having something to make him feel in control is probably wise advice. Thanks to Tammi I might use that idea for my 3yr old son who has a fear of using the toilet for stools. I know around 3yrs old kids have fears. For my son, he also is afraid of thunderstorms and follows me around, but I tell him what it is that made the noise and tell him there is a storm, but it will be ok and let him stare at it with me, that way he overcomes the fear. So far that works. I don't blame your baby for being scared. Try sleeping in HIS room with him for a couple nights and see if that helps, then leave when he falls asleep.

For the fireworks I would show him how cool they look (since he only heard the scary noises). Maybe youtube videos of fireworks. Start them on mute so he can see how pretty they are and explain to him that to be that pretty they make noises and then take off mute so he can hear them with the noises (not loud though). My son hates the noises but when he sees them light up he's ok with the noise.

For the thunder and lightening I explain to my son that those are the noises rain makes and rain is just water - like in his bath or in a pool. When it rains during the day I try to show him out the window and say "WOW" when we hear or see something. He still gets scared at night but I explain the same way at night that I do during the day and try to make it seem like it's not scary or a big deal.

Hope this helps!