Lending a Helping Hand to a Child Experiencing Grief

Children can have difficulty processing emotions, but there are ways that you can help in times of grief. These tips can help you help them.

Children can have difficulty processing emotions, but there are ways that you can help in times of grief. These tips can help you help them.

Children may react to grief in many ways. Reactions typically vary based on age, and it’s essential to know what to look out for in each age group. It will help you better understand what is happening and know when to help.

Very young children may begin looking for the person who has passed, asking where they are or when they are coming back, crying, or clinging to those close to them more often. They may become overly fearful and experience an attachment disorder, afraid to have people leave them at daycare or with a babysitter.

How to help: Toddlers most likely do not grasp the concept of death, so you may need to explain to them many times that the person they lost is not coming back. It can be emotionally trying for adults and the child alike to repeat the conversation. The best way to help a toddler through this time is to speak in a gentle, calming tone, give them lots of snuggles and attention, and reassure them that things will be okay. Let them know that you are sad too, but you are there for them and that nothing bad is going to happen to them.

Children who are school-aged, but still young, often have similar reactions as toddlers, but may also experience nightmares…

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