Top 5 Ways for Parents and Grandparents to Help Reduce Anxiety in Their Children/Grandchildren
- Helping children stick to a predictable schedule of proper sleep, healthy eating, and enough exercise lays the foundation for good stress management and lower anxiety levels. Eating processed foods and sugar, in particular, can lead to mood fluctuations and irritability, often causing children to overreact.
- Ensure there is enough balance between school work and other responsibilities and recreation/ “down-time.” Children need to be immersed in the world of play!
- Teach your child calm breathing. Have them lie down on the floor with a book on their chest; breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, have them try to keep the book still (the lower abdomen should rise and fall with each incoming and outgoing breath). Breathing should be slow and natural. Another technique is 1-nostril breathing in which they breathe in and out through only one nostril (close the mouth and hold the other nostril closed); breathing in for 10 and out for 10 for 5 minutes will force a relaxed breathing pattern and oxygenate the blood helping them to feel more relaxed. There are also a lot of excellent free Apps out there to help with relaxation such as Calm.com and Insight Timer.
- For the child who expresses excessive worries and fears, have them write down their thoughts in a journal. If the worries persist, have them record the fears as they sound in their head (most cell phones have a Voice Memo option or equivalent) and listen to the recording for 8-10 minutes daily. With repetition, the worries will start to sound unalarming and boring. They can add to the recording or make new ones if new concerns appear.
- Teach your child how to face their fears gradually. If there is a fear of dogs, have them practice being around different (known, safe) dogs and gradually increase their contact. If there is a fear of trying something new, help them ease into it, always moving in the direction of not avoiding. For example, my son did not want to go to an all-day basketball clinic offered at a local school where he would know no one; while we didn’t force him to go, we did take him to watch 30 minutes of the clinic with the goal that he will attend the next one offered. Giving him that preparation and easing him into it, while also discussing his particular worries about it, helped make it more manageable and encouraged him not to avoid unfamiliar activities and events.
For more information on how to help your child or grandchild conquer his/her fears, check out Dr. Zucker’s updated title, Anxiety-Free Kids: An Interactive Guide for Parents and Children (2nd ed.), as well as her other books on childhood OCD, talking to toddlers about death, and more.
About the Author
Thank you so much for this topic. As a mother of 2 babies, I think watching your child suffer from anxiety is painful, frustrating, and confusing. I’ve read a research shows that anxiety is often the result of multiple factors such as genes, brain physiology, temperament, environmental factors, past traumatic events. My doctor said that we did not cause child’s anxiety, but we can help them overcome it. Just try to be strong and patient for kids to count on.
It can be so easy to think that kids don’t experience anxiety, but they certainly do. Thank you so much for shining a light on this topic! It’s important to help the children.
Thank you so much for sharing this resource! My son suffers with anxiety and I will definitely be trying some of these tips to assuage his symptoms. I will also be picking up this book!
These are great tips! I always liked sticking to a routine when my girls were little. I like that they could count on a predictable schedule, which made them feel more at ease with daily routines.
Anxiety is so all encompassing. It’s a borribly crippling disease. These are great tips for kids.
What a helpful article! Kid’s anxiety is a serious matter. I hope this will help a lot of people to understand what their kids are going through.
#1 is such an important thing to remember, even for a child without anxiety. My daughter has a little bit of social anxiety with small things, such as making small talk with the kids at the bus stop. I’ve found that by making her routine predictable, ensuring she gets enough sleep, etc., she copes much better.
Anxiety is a serious thing. I hope this helps a lot of people.
Kids can get stressed out pretty easily. As parents we have an important job in teaching them how to cope with stress and fears. Some of the slightest things that throw their world off balance can upset them. These are great tips to help them cope with stress and anxiety.
I think it’s so important to address any nervousness or anxiety in kids as soon as it’s spotted. Emotions and the trials of life can be overwhelming at times for kids, and they need help getting through it.
I absolutely love this post. The world can be a scary enough place for grownups. Sometimes it’s absolutely terrifying for the kids.
Great tips and I love that you included grandparents because they’re a big part of the children’s lives. I may try some of these myself 🙂
This is really great. Sometimes it can be so hard to deal with kids anxiety – one of my daughters really suffers from anxiety in public like I do!
My youngest suffers from anxiety a lot for all different reasons. I often cannot help her. These are great resources for me, thanks!
Great posting. I think more parents should definitely be doing these practices in their lifestyles because children can get stressed too! I love all of these tips especially the journaling.
These are really great tips, and i would love to try these with my son. I also struggled with anxiety when i was young and we didn’t really know how to cope with it then. I want to make sure i can work through this with my son, i need to get my hands on this book!
I have to check out this book immediately! My son suffers from anxiety at times and I am always looking for resources for him!
This sounds like a great book to check out. Keeping a journal is a good way to help manage your anxiety.
This is a great post. I know my son always did better when we stuck to his daily routine.
Routines can be so helpful for kids! They always really helped my son.
Both of my kids had anxiety when they were young. These are great tips.
Geesh, I would hope my kids didn’t have anxiety – they are too young for that kind of stress. If I ever notice any signs, I will try your tips.