5 year old ‘ailments’

[MrsC10]

I’m not sure how else to describe it in the thread title really. All we’ve heard from my 5 year old recently is everything hurts, questions about what happens if ‘insert any random object here’ goes in your eye, bones popping and cracking, back popping...the list goes on and on. It’s a constant stream of questions and complaints about ‘ailments’ allll day.

we’ve tried explaining what it could be and telling her not to worry. We’ve sat down and had a chat to see what could be causing her to ask these questions. We’ve been very patient...but it’s wearing thin now. Has anyone else had this or have any helpful advice?

 

[loeylo]

It sounds like it could be health anxiety. I’ve suffered most of my life and it’s awful. I don’t think telling her things that it could possibly be is helpful.

As a kid, I couldn’t identify why I felt so anxious, but in hindsight my anxiety started when a family friends mum died. Another trigger for me was having a skin biopsy age 6. These might seem relatively minor, but they are all I can think of. I also had a fear of fire and flood.
I grew up in the 90s and there wasn’t really much support back then. It wasn’t until adulthood that my issues were dealt with. Even now I’m incredibly nervous about medical situations. I’d definitely try to get her professional help now, before it gets worse. I nearly lost my job, I nearly failed uni, I nearly lost my friends, my family and my fiancé because of it.

 

[Bevziibubble]

^I agree it could be anxiety. Sometimes it doesn't show as typical anxiety and will show through different ailments and it is hard for the child to express how they feel because anxiety can't always be explained, especially for children who don't know why they're feeling like this

 

[Babybump87]

Wow my recently turned 5 year old DD has just started doing this ! I wonder if it’s an age thing and just becoming more aware of things in general . She’s been having nightmares too .

Coming out with random things such as if my leg comes off will it grow back ?, keeps saying she cannot stop swallowing? , her ankle is sore , why does she have this bruise , what’s this mark it goes on .

It’s a hard one , all we can do is just reassure them of any fears they have.

She’s generally very happy and mischievous . I think not having a routine either doesn’t help eating all kinds of junk , bedtimes all over the place . I hope your DD settles down soon . I’m just going to keep an eye on my DD and how things go once they are back in school .

 

[Babybump87]

It sounds like it could be health anxiety. I’ve suffered most of my life and it’s awful. I don’t think telling her things that it could possibly be is helpful.

As a kid, I couldn’t identify why I felt so anxious, but in hindsight my anxiety started when a family friends mum died. Another trigger for me was having a skin biopsy age 6. These might seem relatively minor, but they are all I can think of. I also had a fear of fire and flood.
I grew up in the 90s and there wasn’t really much support back then. It wasn’t until adulthood that my issues were dealt with. Even now I’m incredibly nervous about medical situations. I’d definitely try to get her professional help now, before it gets worse. I nearly lost my job, I nearly failed uni, I nearly lost my friends, my family and my fiancé because of it.

I agree as parents who have suffered / suffer from anxiety i think we are better equipped than our parents were to deal with this and help our own children .
I used to have a re occurring nightmare that my house was on fire and we had to jump out the window . I used to be terrified to go asleep. Our minds are powerful that’s for sure .