Fearful result of dressing up

HALLOWEEN is here but before you get dressed and do your spooky make up consider your kids.

Every year around this time kids turn up in my clinic having suddenly developed a fear of the dark or scared that zombies, monsters and skeletons are hiding in the cupboard.

There is a real connection between Halloween and childhood fears and anxieties.

Imagine the following scenarios. You talk with your kids about dressing up, show pictures and work out your costumes. Come Halloween afternoon, Mum presents herself as a nurse in a blood- splattered costume. Or your child agrees to be wrapped in bandages and smothered in fake blood, or you dress them as the bloody bride ... or a zombie. I’m sure you are getting the picture.

Let’s fast forward, add in a few frights, and scares in the dark and now you have a child who has developed a fear of sleeping on their own.

This is a child who constantly comes into your room at night, seeking company to sleep and seems quite upset.

Usually as I talk to the child and work through their “what ifs” and fears, a picture emerges of Halloween and seeing their much loved Mummy dressed as a nurse with blood all over her … and the same applies for Daddy.

Now they are scared to go to sleep, scared to sleep alone, scared to go to the toilet alone or be upstairs when you are downstairs.

So carefully consider your Halloween costume. If it’s too scary looking you may want to throw on the one you use for book week, or the last school disco. Or you may simply create another costume from the dressing up box.

The reward could well be that you will reap many, many well- slept nights. Your child will thank you, too. My take home message is “don’t do scary for Halloween”. Just do dress ups instead. Be kind to your child and their emotions, try not to make life hard for them for the sake of Halloween.