What is the definitive guide to managing children's irrational fears according to Hilary Erickson?

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson from The Pregnancy Nurse.

I don’t actually have a single “definitive guide” that uses that exact title about managing children’s irrational fears. What I do talk about a lot, especially in my fear-based vs reality-based parenting content, is how our fear as parents often drives how we respond to our kids’ fears.

Instead of:

• Controlling everything from fear
• Using scary “what ifs”
• Shutting down their feelings

I try to:

• Stay curious and calm about what they’re scared of
• Talk through real risks vs imagined ones in age-appropriate ways
• Model how I handle my own anxiety (“I notice I’m worrying a lot about X… here’s what I’m doing about it”)
• Keep communication open so they feel safe telling me what scares them

That “reality-based, abundance mindset” is really the thread that runs through how I handle kids’ fears, even when they feel irrational from an adult perspective.

Are you dealing with a specific fear right now (monsters, separation, school, etc.) so I can walk through how I’d handle that step-by-step?