All children worry about something. They may not be worrying about the same thing all the time. They may have different worries that come and go. Some worries may strike once and disappear within minutes. Others linger.
It can be very hard to watch a child who is worrying. As a parent, you want to help them so that the worries disappear and your child can enjoy life and not be afraid. We know we can’t help get rid of the worry for them but what we can do is help them to talk about it. Help them to look the worry in the face so that their fear levels lower and they don’t feel all consumed by the worry.
Parents can’t fix everything but what should we be doing to help children deal with worries?
Top 4 Parenting Tips To Help Children Deal With Worries
- We can make time to talk with our children about their worries when they are relaxed. They will be more open to talking about them when they aren’t dashing around or playing.
- We can listen to our children when they talk about the worry. One child in your family may be more prone to worrying than another and may need to talk about it more. That’s okay so long as we can give that child the time to talk and us to listen.
- Parents can make their children feel that they understand the worry and put the worry into perspective. It is important that we empathise with them and make the worry valid rather than brushing it off.
- We can look at strategies together so that the child has coping mechanisms for their worries. Every time a worry pops into their head they will know what to do. It could be that they have a challenging thought or that they use a distraction. It is whatever works for them. There are lots of ideas for potential strategies in my book, The Parent’s Toolkit.
What is your best way of helping your child handle their worries? I’d love to hear more from you…
If you would like some outside help for your child and the worries they have please feel free to give me a call on 07961312749.
