Santa Phobia

Ba_barbaraAnne

My youngest lad (nearly seven) has a terrible phobia about Santa. He can't abide the thought of visiting him or even going to watch him arrive in town. I hoped that by now he would have outgrown this fear, especially as Santa arrives in Westport by boat on the river and it's really great, but the poor lad is adamant that he won't see the man in red.

It is all I can do to get him to the village Christmas party, and for that I have to promise to get him out of the place before Santa arrives. Even on Christmas Eve he always insists that his stocking is hung up away from the bedroom so Santa won't have to go into his room!

This phobia also extends to any other 'character' figures- eg. Barney or Bob the Builder at supermarket openings etc.

He is otherwise a sensible little chap. He knows that it is just an ordinary person dressed up. (His brother was once Santa in the school play, and that didn't go down too well either).

Any ideas on how I can handle the situation better as I hate him missing out on so many Christmas outings because of his phobia?

climaxer

BarbaraAnne thats a tricky one. I know you hate him missing out on stuff because of his phobia which is what it is. Most kids are terrified of Santa when they are toddlers and like you said grow out of it. Funnily enough when my dd was around 6 or 7 she was terrified of the bunny which is at the Supermacs party. She laughs now but she was terrified at the time (tears and everything). Maybe if you got your son to dress up as Santa himself and let him mess around at home. Would he tell you why it scares him - maybe he had a bad experience when he was a toddler and still remembers it.

cajun_tiger

i had a fear of the santa that was in the shops until i was 8, and i can under stand the fear of barney ect... when i was told that the one in the shops was just pretend it was fine from then on (you know a friend of santa) every foto is of me screaming to get away from him...
any chance your little chap is prone to be shy with strangers. he could be picking up on vibes, good/ bad

Ba_barbaraAnne

Thanks for the replies, but this phobia seems to go very deep. He is normally an outgoing, friendly chap, and even knowing the person who is in the santa suit doesn't make any difference.

We missed out two summers visiting Westport House because they had a Bunny character, and after Tesco opened with lots of 'friendly' characters handing out sweets etc, he wouldn't come to the shops with me for ages!

Halloween has never been a problem for some reason, but any 'larger than life' figures are a big no-no. I guess it's just a matter of waiting until he is ready, but it does detract from his potential enjoyment of Christmas.

he has agreed to go to the village christmas party as long as he doesn't have to get a present in the 'grotto' and can hide before santa comes into the disco to get photos taken! I suppose it's something!

Ba_barbaraAnne

Postscript to the issue -

Poor child found a great way to avoid Santa at the Christmas Party. He woke up this morning with a temperature of 103! Maybe next year....?

Nevyn

it could be that your little boy has a very good sesne of what is real and what is not. That those larger then life cartoons are not real and this could be why seeing the friendly people in the coustume upsets him for they should not be real and in his world.

dancing with barney or who ever is just not for him .

hope he getts better soon and is well for over the holidays

Victor

How's he with shopkeepers, doctors, etc?

What it like if he / his friends dress up?

My niece got really paranoid around the time she was told that strangers weren't to talk to her / touch her. She and I suspect many kids take this too literally and will never speak to even "good" strangers.