Top 6 Ways To Help Children Deal With Stress According To Their Age
Psychologically, all humans are bound to experience and go through stress. Stress is a result of many factors, from daily activities that are visible and physical to those that are non-physical.
Just as adults go through a deal of stress, so do children. However, unlike adults, children don’t understand the concept of stress. Hence, they’re unable to deal with it properly. Therefore, it’s only natural for parents who are in a better position to handle stress to help their kids.
Ways To Help Your Child Deal With Stress At All Ages
Every parent has to make sure that their child is healthy, both physically and mentally. In cases when such a child starts experiencing some set back due to stress, it becomes the utmost duty of the parent to help with their anxiety.
Below are some general tips on how parents can help their children deal and handle stress at all ages.
1. Practice Relaxing Exercises
As mentioned, stress comes in varying forms – as a result of the excess workload from school or due to pressure from friends. Whatever the case, an excellent way for a parent to help their kids destress at home or destress in college is to practice relaxing exercises.
Doing a simple exercise, like taking deep breaths while counting, simple yoga exercises to stretch and liven up the body, or merely sitting in a calm environment where you can guide the child through the use of imagination, can help relax the mind.
Encourage the child to personally find a relaxing exercise that best soothes them and allow the child to put into practice the act of relaxing through such simple activities.
2. Good Sleeping Habit
A night of good night sleep has never failed anyone. When it comes to children that are even more active than adults, cultivating a good and healthy sleeping habit is an excellent way to help them deal with stress.
Teach your child to have a fixed bedtime that functions even on weekends to create a pattern over time. Then, create an approximate of 40mins bedtime routine to help the child transition into a relaxed state that’ll induce sleep.
Make the room cozy and comfortable with the appropriate beddings. If possible, add natural sounds to calm your child and lull them to bed.
3. Make Time For Fun
Having fun is a certified way to get your child to forget all worries. Create time for the child to engage in healthy, fun activities, like a visit to the park, a picnic day out, an outing to the beach, or other fun inducing activities.
Ensure that these activities don’t put any pressure on the child. Instead aim at making the child laugh, happy, and exercise the body and mind while relaxing.
4. Speak About Stress
Many parents fear that speaking about stress with their children will induce more stress. In reality, talking about stress helps not only relieve it but also helps the parent understand the causal factors of their child’s condition and how to help them in tackling it.
Talking can be a tough thing to do since children might be reluctant to speak about it. But, finding creative ways, such as daily chats, talking when shopping, or any other means can take away the tension and discomfort of face-to-face interaction.
In that way, the parent understands the child's stress pattern and causes. Parents can now be more active in their efforts to ease it.
5. Mistakes Are Part Of Life
While growing up, children have to be told that making mistakes is ok. The fact is, as they grow, they’re going to make more mistakes. The sooner they understand that mistakes are part of life, the better for their mental health.
Most times, the stress children face comes from their fear of making mistakes, either at home or outside the home.
Knowing that no one is perfect and that you can positively learn from mistakes can significantly improve a child's outlook on life and stress. That way, they feel more at ease, and when these mistakes arise, they understand that they can only do better.
Parents must also learn how to handle big mistakes in a way that the child never gets spooked or afraid to the point of dreading the parents' reaction whenever there’s a lapse. It’s ok to correct your child, but it should be done with love and caution.
6. Communicate Always
Constant communication goes a long way in helping reduce a child's stress. From simple chats to stories, they keep the child's mind at ease that their parents are listening to them and that they can freely and easily interact with them.
Although communication can be challenging when dealing with adolescents, if the habit is cultivated from an early age, it can go a long way in helping the child grow.Conclusion
Stress in children is a widespread phenomenon. As parents, there are ways to provide comfort and support to help them manage stress better – from good sleeping habits to constant communication, a fun time, and relaxing exercises.
Stress cannot be completely overruled. However, with the right guide, children can learn how to manage stress and live a stress-free life.
