My son was in the garden playing with his friends. All of a sudden it started to thunder and all the kids ran in and left my son outside. By the time he came in he was crying so much and shaking. He was very scared. It has been 3 weeks now and he does no step foot into the garden. I have come on holiday and I have managed to get him in the garden however when he hears any loud noise like a motorbike he runs inside and starts screming when his mum or dad and his dummy for comfort. I am very concerned and I don't know what to do?

How old is he? What is his "dummy"?

Dummy, an English term for pacifier.

It would help to know how old he is but if he has a pacifier, I'd assume he's a toddler.

I recommend you go to your library and find books that address his fears in a non-threatening way. I wouldn't overload the kid with fearful things, but maybe you could find a book about being noisy. Or a book about storms - maybe there's a little bear scared of thunder who's mom makes him feel better and teaches him that noise is just noise.

Or you can cheat, which works for lots of parents! In my house growing up, my parents would respond to scarey thunder by saying, "Wow that's noisy - I guess God is bowling with the angels again!" My son got the same story and fell for it entirely.

You can also use a plant mister filled with water and show the child that you are using "thunder spray" in the garden so it will be quiet all day for him to play.
Lots of people use this to great effect to eradicate pesky monsters from frightening closets!

He is 2 and a half years old

Thank you for the post. We took him to a fun fair the other day and there was very loud noises and a lot of things going. However, he did not get scared because he could see what is going on?