My son is almost 3 and we just had a very odd situation. We were in his room, he was on the floor an I was on his bed. He asked for his favourite car which I said was on the bookcase. He got up took one step and froze then sat back down. When I asked him what was wrong he just whispered. After questioning for a bit I worked out that there was a dragon in his room. He looked away from the bookcase obviously frieghtened (it seriously felt like he thought the dragon was staring at him). He got up on the bed and clung onto me very tight. He whispered that he wanted to go to my room, which we did. We lay on my bed for a while and I asked him if he was scared of dragons which he said he is. He said the dragon was playing with his cars.
After about 10 mins he closed his eyes and had a nap, I was trying to get him to have a rest anyway. Last night he got up at about 8:30pm and went to our bed. I saw him go into our room so I let him stay there. I wonder if it was because of the same thing.
He also said that sometimes the dragon goes into his sisters room (she is only 8 months old).
What is the best way to handle the situation? Should I pretend that I took the dragon to the zoo? Let the situation run it's course or tell him there are no such things as dragons?
Toddler afraid of a dragon
Toddler afraid of a dragon
Posted in:
Baby & Toddler
2 Replies
Try and make dragons feel more friendly. Maybe try and find a cute dragon stuffed toy or look into some movies that might have this kind of theme?? Reading books. Just telling him dragons don't hurt people etc.
I see two options. 1, dragon spray - make it very potion like. Get a spray bottle, stick on a picture of a dragon and use a red nikko to draw the circle and line through it (like for no smoking signs). Then use predominantly water but add lavender oil (relaxation), eucalyptus oil (may as well sanitise while you're spraying) and some whole basil leaves (again for relaxation). Anytime the dragon is a problem, spray it - give him ownership of spraying it himself. Tell him the dragon can not resist the spray as it's too powerful and he should just grow out of it eventually. 2, get a "real" dragon for him. You'll need a license and a bit of set up to start with but bearded dragons are a great, docile and low maintenance pet for kids (they live for 10-15 years though so it's not for the short term). Dragons can't be scary when there's one in the living room ready for on call cuddles! Try him out by having a look at the pet store and see if he's willing to have a pat for starters, don't just spring it on him and if it's a goer get him to help choose items for the enclosure so he has had some input. Just remember to only choose one, I imagine spraying a beardie with the above potion if you weren't watching would not be nice for it.