QUESTIONS:
How common are these types of fears?

Childhood fears are very common and expected. Most children go through some phase where either a monster in the closet or fear of the dark can be overwhelming. But these fears are important to development. How children mange childhood fears will prepare them for the anxieties and stresses they will face as adults.

How do the fears change as children get older?

Babies and toddlers experience stranger/danger and can be very clingy to mom and dad.
Kids ages 4 – 6 have fears about things that are not based in reality like monsters in closets or going down the drain.
Kids ages 7 – 12 fear about real circumstances that may happen …such as something happening to themselves or mom or dad or natural disasters or storms.

Okay, so what can parents do to ease the anxiety?

Recognize the fear is real

As trivial as it may seem, for a child, this fear is very real – thank about your own fears and anxieties. As a grown up it is difficult to be talked out of them and even more so for a child. Still, talking about the fear helps and can take some of power out of the negative feeling.

Never belittle the fear.

Saying “don’t be ridiculous” is not going to help anything. You don’t want to make a child feel silly or foolish. Making your child feel small will not make the monsters any smaller.
Don’t cater to the fears
At the same time, you don’t want to cater to their fears. For example, if your child has a fear of going down an escalator – don’t always take the stairs. Gently finding ways to help your child face their fears – while holding your hand – will help your child cope in the future.

Teach a coping mechanism

There are many creative coping mechanisms you can offer. For example, for the Monsters in the Closet, have the bed as home base. They can start heading to the feared object knowing that they can race back to safety will help. It’s like putting a toe in the water – go gradually. Another option I did was self-assurances such as repeating to yourself – “Fear Go Away”. I started this with my niece standing at the top of an escalator. We stood there and repeated “fear go away” until she could take that first step.