My daughter is 3 1/2 and whenever a show comes on t.v. (such as Grey's Anatomy) or any show that has a doctor in it she will freak out! She will start crying and telling me to turn it off. I dont understand her fear of doctors on the tv because she is not like this when we actually have to go to the doctor. She did have eye surgery in October, do you think she remembers anything from that and maybe that is causes her fear? I just dont understand it.
***Okay, let me re-word the question...my daughter is not up at 9:00 watching Grey's Anatomy. We have a bedtime of 8:00 for both my kids. However, occasionally I watch the Grey's Anatomy that come on Lifetime at 7:00pm. During that time, which is after her bath, she is either playing with her brother in their rooms or watching Sesame Street or Barney in her room with a snack. So, I take that time while they are playing together to sit down and relax and watch something I want to. Sometimes she will come into the family room where I am and see what is on tv, that is when she will freak out. And of course, I immediately change the channel. I dont want to scare her in anyway. She does not watch shows that are not appropriate for her age. She enjoys Barney and Sesame Street. It is not just Grey's Anatomy though. Last night we were at my sister in laws house and she put on the Alvin and the Chipmuncks movie. It had a scene where a man was laying on a doctor bed and I believe the chipmuncks had doctor jackets on, she was crying hysterically about that. We immediately turned the movie off. I do read with my kids and play with them, but when they are playing very contently by themselves and getting along together I let them be and have a good time together...that is when I take advantage of the situation and enjoy some time for myself.
Who knows - kids are weird. :) Just try to minimize the fear and maybe buy her a Barbie Doctor (http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_004W014464560005...) and let her know that doctors help people.
Shows such as Grey's or ER (etc.) are rated TV-14 and are completely inappropriate for a 3 year old. Albeit, I've never seen Grey's, but I imagine that it is filled with intense medical situations, stress, anguish, sadness, mourning, and lots 'o sex. I'm sure you don't really want her to learn about these advanced emotions yet. With the reaction she is having, perhaps you should shield her from this content until she's significantly older.
No offense, but I don't think a child this age should be watching a show like Grey's Anatomy. Or House or ER or any of those medical shows. The blood, the trauma, the needles, the intensity...I think it's just too much.
My son is 14 and he can't watch any of that stuff, even though he knows it's fake, it makes him queezy. He's had to go to the hospital and he was fine with getting stitches or having I.V.'s, but he can't bear to watch it on TV.
If something freaks your daughter out, she's way too young to be watching it.
When my daughter was that age, the show "Rescue 911" scared her. They were only re-enactments and had happy endings and some of it was about teaching children about 911. But it scared her so we didn't watch it.
I had to be in the hospital a lot and I didn't want her being afraid of doctors or hospitals.
Record Grey's Anatomy and watch it after your daughter goes to bed.
Try to spend more time reading, get School House Rock for her to watch on TV.
Watch your medical shows when she's asleep.
Best wishes.
Hi H.,
A three year old can not separate fact from fiction at this point. Of course she can remember her eye surgery. I was in and out of hospitals all my childhood and I can even remember names...The first time I had anesthesia, at the age of six, I felt like I was laying in Frankenstein's laboratory. When she is with her regular doctor there is familiarity and it seems safe because you're there and the lights are on and people are being friendly. Doctor shows usually have someone coarse that is griping or yelling at people. Keep the TV off until she's gone to bed. She'll grow out of this but abstract thinking is still a ways off...
God bless,
M.
What's she doing up so late?
I would like to Thank you for posting this! I was just googling this fear and your story popped up. My son will be 3 in July and he panics over every hospital scene on TV and will not return to the room until I turn it off. It also started with the Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakual movie. He loved the 1st one so we got him the 2nd one for Easter and after that scene w/ Dave Seville in the hospital he won't watch it and literally panics in a corner if any other show has a scene w/ drs. or hospitals. His twin sister is getting very frustrated because she is not scared of this stuff but I can't let her watch it because of him. Please, let me know if you find anything that helps
Also, ironically my son had surgery for a blocked tear duct just over a year ago
Glad I'm not alone,
Vicki
kids have irrational fears. My daughter used to be fascinated with the labor and delivery shows, then when she was 4 if we would pass a show like that she would scream because of the blood. I couldn't drive by a hospital at that age without her screaming in fear because of the doctors inside. She was afraid of St Jude (commercials on shows like nick network) because she didn't want to ever be a patient there. She also was afraid of bugs, wind, water, dogs, you name it at one time or another. When she was 3, I couldn't get her outside without a fight. If you just go with it, and let them ignore the ones that they can ignore (obviously we could not avoid the outdoors or wind, but I could avoid some shows that upset her and dogs as best I could), they eventually grow out of them.
I agree with Lee and Shane with the content of the shows, not the Dr.s that she is scared of, which is perfectly understandable. If it isn't just the content, but a fear of Dr's in general, get her a Dr. doll, or watch a Dr. cartoon and see if her fear is the same. Otherwise, I would think her fear is from the intense drama in the hospital scenes.
disney dr cartoons
http://www.imdb.com/video/disney-channel/vi150930457/
dora goes to the dr book
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Say-Ahhh!/Phoebe-Beinst...
dr dora cartoon
http://www.tvtubex.com/Dora-the-Explorer/Doctor-Dora_2020...
As a mom it is our job to protect our children's innocence and I must say that I agree with the other responders that adult sitcoms or television shows are not appropriate for children. While it is possible that she remembers the surgery, I would still keep her away from adult situation t.v. and only allow her to watch shows catered to her age. We allow our daughter to watch PBS kids, and shows that are on Nick Jr like Wonder Pets, Yo Gabba Gabba, Dora, and Diego. There are so many good t.v. shows for kids and I am sure you can find one that she enjoys.
When my son was little (about 3 or 4), we got him toy doctors bag. It had a stethoscope, a pretend thermometer, pretend bandages, and pretend needles to give shots with. He use to LOVE pretending to operate on me. He come up with his doctors bag and say I didn't look right. Then he'd listen with the stethoscope and take my temperature and tell me I was very sick and he had to operate. He'd pretend take out my appendix, give me a few shots and then put a few bandaids on me. Check my symptoms again and say I was all better now! It was so cute. We got him a little set of scrubs for Halloween and he made a perfect doctor! Maybe you could try reading 'How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?' and try to introduce doctors as friendly people who want to help sick people get better.
Could it be that your daughter is scared of all doctors or nurses. Kids have such painful visits with the doctor sometimes (strep swab, shots, etc). My daughter wasn't only scared of doctors and nurses but even the sales people at Stride Right. Turns out they wear a white coat as part of their uniforms. She came unglued when they tried to size her foot. We talked to our doctor about it and she said around the age of 4 would our daughter calm down, sure enough she did.
