Fear of insects

outnumbered

Last August my daughter was stung by a bee.  She became afraid of bees, but the fear was not impacting her life.  The past month she has developed a more intense fear of insects.  My parents live on a lake.  We visit a lot during the summer.  She will not go swimming because of the dragon flies.  If she even goes down to the beach she cries and has to leave.  She would not come in the house yesterday because a fly had flown in.  This morning she would not go in the living room because she saw an ant.  Her reaction to bugs is more than a typical reaction of 'ooh  look a spider, yuck'.  She breathes hard, gets red, cries and she panics.  No amount of rational reassurance helps.  I think she might need to talk to somebody, but I am not sure where to start.  Any suggestions? Do you have any coping skills you could suggest?  Thank you. 

ETA:  My daughter is 7 and entering 2nd grade. 

realisticdreams

outnumbered:

Last August my daughter was stung by a bee.  She became afraid of bees, but the fear was not impacting her life.  The past month she has developed a more intense fear of insects.  My parents live on a lake.  We visit a lot during the summer.  She will not go swimming because of the dragon flies.  If she even goes down to the beach she cries and has to leave.  She would not come in the house yesterday because a fly had flown in.  This morning she would not go in the living room because she saw an ant.  Her reaction to bugs is more than a typical reaction of 'ooh  look a spider, yuck'.  She breathes hard, gets red, cries and she panics.  No amount of rational reassurance helps.  I think she might need to talk to somebody, but I am not sure where to start.  Any suggestions? Do you have any coping skills you could suggest?  Thank you. 

ETA:  My daughter is 7 and entering 2nd grade. 

I would give her a tool to help cope.  P used to be terrified of bugs and so we taught her to stomp them..a year later she's trying to pick up worm snakes and fishing worms are the ONLY thing she will get dirty hands for.

I would use something like a butterfly net to catch the dragon flies, and a flyswatter to kill other things.  Also a social story may be appropriate you  might be able to find a psych based book about bugs, etc.

GL that sounds awful and I have nooo personal experience on the 7 year old level.  Make sure to encourage her that she is so much bigger and maybe get some of the bee sting kits that help with the pain (little green vial things)  

outnumbered

Thanks for the replies.  I am calling the pedi today.   I am working on staying patient with her and telling my husband to knock off the 'tough love' because this is something she is not able to control right now.

Auntie, I think you live in the same area as my in-laws.  You mentioned a teacher contract dispute in a post on the parenting board.  My SIL lives in Langhorne.  They had to deal with  4 weeks of no school due to striking teachers.  They are angry.