Q: My son and daughter-in-law were watching Star Wars with their 3 and a half years old daughter. They covered her head when Darth Vader came on screen. She heard his heavy breathing. Since then she has been extremely scared, not only of the dark or of being left in a room, even with the lights on. She is scared of even the sounds she is familiar with, such as the computer fan or furnace fan kicking on. This morning she heard her kitty eating crunchy food just around the corner and it scared her. How can we help her?

A:Getting over the fear of noises will be gradual. The child's parents should explain what they did and why and reassure her that the monster is the TV screen and not more dangerous than a machine that can be switched off. A better monitoring of what TV to watch would help the child.