Tips To Calm Your Anxious Child

Helping your child deal with anxiety

Say goodbye to your child’s anxiety with these tried and tested tips!

Anxiety is a normal part of life. We all deal with it from time to time. When it starts causing problems, like making your child want to stay home from school, it needs to be looked at and taken more seriously.

Identifying childhood anxiety is a task in itself since children have their whining phases which seem to never end. Even though a whining toddler can be dealt with, can anxiety be managed in a similar way? How to identify if your child is anxious? We tell you how!

Here are the 7 signs to help you understand if your child is dealing with anxiety:

1. PESSIMISTIC OR NEGATIVE THINKING

Is your child always negative? Do they always think the worst of every person and situation? Sometimes it can be learned behaviour, so look at how your outlook is on situations before assuming your child may have anxiety.

2. TANTRUMS, MELTDOWNS, AND ANGER… OH MY!

Tantrums are a normal part of the first few years of life, but when they extend beyond that timeframe, there could be a reason for concern.Does your child have meltdowns when plans change, or when they don’t know what’s going to happen next?

3. DEFIANCE

Does your child behave in a disruptive manner more often than not? All kids are defiant from time to time, but anxiety can lead to excessively disruptive behaviour. Many times, children are labelled as “bad” when in reality they are experiencing anxiety and don’t know how to handle it.

4. HEADACHES AND STOMACHACHES

When the doctor can’t find a source of your child’s headaches, tummy aches, or other aches and pains, anxiety could be the cause.

5. HYPERACTIVE AND DISTRACTED

Some children have been diagnosed with ADHD based on their inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and other signs that manifest themselves when anxiety is present. If you think your child may be anxious, it’s definitely worth talking about it with your paediatrician. Especially before getting a diagnosis of ADHD!

6. DOESN’T DO WELL WITH CRITICISM

If your child doesn’t do well with criticism (even when it’s presented in a positive way), it could also be a sign of anxiety. Anxiety causes so much self-doubt! Even a critical statement can be the one thing that throws your child over the edge for the day. To say goodbye to anxiety, you can try a few trusted techniques to boost your child’s self-esteem.

7. SLEEPING TOO MUCH, OR NOT AT ALL

Mental health is a tricky thing! Anxiety can manifest in such odd ways: for example, your child wanting to sleep all the time – or not being able to sleep at all.

Anxiety keeps adults up at night so it’s natural that it’d keep kids up, too. On the other end of the spectrum, anxiety and depression tend to run together so sleeping too much can happen if they get overwhelmed.

Anxiety keeps adults up at night so it’s natural that it’d keep kids up, too. On the other end of the spectrum, anxiety and depression tend to run together so sleeping too much can happen if they get overwhelmed.

MKB Loves: A good quality weighted blanket can help your child combat sleep imbalance.

Disclaimer: It is important to keep your child’s paediatrician in the loop about all of their mental health signs. This will help them suggest if a medical approach is needed, or not.