maybe seeing a counselor would help? My son has a few issues with anxiety, but we are getting through it so far. I was going to see if the school counselor could just speak with him a little, or the allergist....we had a EMT come to our house to CPR/first-aide train us and he was also allergic and carried an Epi. My son thought that was really cool, and they sat and talked about their Epi's etc... I've also had the EMT's (at our national night out) when the kids get to sit and look into the fire trucks/ambulances....but they talk with him(they make it sound cool though). So everywhere I can, even other kids(like older boys, I had 2 twin 2nd graders talk with my son about their allergies and what they all do to stay safe, he really liked it coming from another kid.). Just some ideas, I hope you can work through the fear. HUGS
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Chanda(mother of 4)
Sidney-8 (beef and chocolate, grasses, molds, weeds, guinea pig & asthma)
Jake-6 (peanut, all tree nuts, eggs, trees, grasses, weeds, molds, cats, dogs, guinea pig & eczema & asthma)
Carson-3 1/2 (milk, soy, egg, beef and pork, cats, dog, guinea pig and EE)
Savannah-1 (milk and egg)
Foster Mom to
Cody-10 (seasonal/environmental allergies)
Jordan-6 (also seasonal and environmental)

Agree totally with booandbrimom.
We never went through this with DD, but perhaps this was because at that age, she recalled her trip to the ER fairly vividly. So her perspective was that, yes, it is scary to go to the hospital, but [i]nowhere near as scary as what prompts the trip.[/i]
So she very naturally grew into an understanding of the 'hospital' as a place that helps people when they are sick.
I also truly think they fear the unknown much more than the worst truth imaginable. DD knows that she could be intubated during a reaction, and she knows what that means. But she also knows that all those interventions are [i]to help her.[/i]
Funny you should mention Curious George-- DD [i]LOVED[/i] that book, which we bought her in the wake of her reaction when she was 2.
Do you have any acquaintances or family who are nurses or doctors? Maybe you can be matter-of-fact about that with your child, and have the person breifly explain that their job is to "help people get better." Familiarity really helps.

My son loves the No Nuts for Me online video - it may help "normalize" the epi pen for him.
Here is a link
[url="http://www.foodallergyinitiative.org/section_home2.html"]http://www.foodallergyinitiative.org/section_home2.html[/url]

Here's another idea - maybe you can get him a stuffed animal that has a food allergy. Not necessarily to peanuts - it would probably work better if it is a different allergy than your son's. He can practice giving the epipen (trainer) to the animal and avoiding the offending food. Might give him the chance to work through things by playing.

The book Peter Cant Eat Peanuts is good. It talks about how you need to see a doctor if you have a reaction--but not in a scary way--in a "Dr's are good and they can help us" way.
I explain that keeping the epipen w/us is just like wearing a seatbelt. We probably wont need it, but if we ever do, we'll be glad we have it with us.
Just like you hope you never have an accident and you certainly dont plan to and they dont happen often, but just in case you do, you need to protect yourself by wearing the seatbelt.
Good Luck,
Gina
[url="http://www.AllergyMoms.com"]www.AllergyMoms.com[/url]

My son's stuffed monkey has a peanut allergy and my son regularly practices giving him an epipen with the trainer.