Acknowledge it

One of the greatest joys in life is to be able to hold your grandchild. (We all need to be held). I have an outdoor swing with a canopy top where I spent many hours singing and rocking him to sleep when he was in his infancy. Almost three years old now, he'll run off and rarely has the time to be held. Playing is the priority. The exception was usually when he is not feeling well, or scared of something. Or, whenever he needs to have his boo-boo kissed.
Did you ever witness a child falling down and being pulled up literally without any comforting from the caregiver? I think that's indicative of a future problem. Did you ever see a child that is allowed to continue to wail and wail and wail. That is another problem. So many kids today are like that for some reason. A child needs to be acknowledged, and so does the child within at every age. They need answers to their "Whats that?" question(s). Everyone is so busy today. Children are tossed around from birth. Sadly, some aren't cared for properly.
So, how do you stop a wailing child? Anyway you can, quickly. Words of comfort help. I''ll ask him where the boo-boo is, getting him to talk about it. After I find out what is wrong, we quickly move on. End of subject, period. Listening skills are important at this age and a lot of patience is needed.
I recall reading that hidden pain not expressed, can become problematic years later, leading to illness.
Kissing the boo-boo and acknowledging the pain is so important.
Here are some of the remarks I use to counter the scared of with:
The doggie doesn't do that...
Look at the... (diverting his attention)
Scared of the ants--You are bigger than they are...
Scared of the bees--be still and they'll go away
Scared of the fans--???
We could go on and on about scared of, but the point is I acknowledge it. (What seems to be small to us is huge to them. (Getting hurt is not fun). Bear hugs help no matter what the age. (I always tell him if he is a good boy he'll get a treat to take home). Or, I use the sticker method. Nathan loves the Mighty Machines video, which translates to 90 minutes of quiet time.
One cannot underestimate an almost three-year-old child, they can do just about anything, and they will tell you the truth.
When my nephew Matt was at that same age, I watched him for a while. He was so funny. One day, I went to his house and as I stood in the doorstep, he noticed something was different. Then he remarked "Auntie, put some lipstick on". And he noticed that at two? Children are very observant and will repeat everything you say (when you least expect it).
Another day, we were "pretend" fishing in my backyard. I watched him holding a stick with a string tied to it, hovering over the circle I drew on the snow-covered ice. He was going to catch a fish. He kept saying "I'm a fisherman." I lost it! Couldn't stop laughing. He looked up at me and said very expressly, "your a clown". Maybe I am?