Anxious children hyperventilate, shake, cry, experience stomach aches and voice agitation that is not specific to a certain trigger. Some children have hypersensitive temperaments, making them more susceptible to lose their cool when confronted with new situations. Anxious children often lack good problem-solving skills, meaning that parents must employ different strategies to address the problem. Discuss your child's anxiety with his pediatrician for professional suggestions specific to your situation.
Establish a Routine
Children who become anxious in new situations can be calmed by establishing and maintaining a routine. Routines are particularly helpful when getting ready for bed or preparing for school. Teach your child to leave his belongings in the same spots every day for easy retrieval. Establishing these types of routines gives your child something stable to rely upon, even when other things in his environment become unstable. When you recognize your child becoming anxious, focus him on the routine and he will often calm down.
Listen and Be Empathic
Listening and validating your anxious child's emotions is an essential problem-solving skill. Sometimes just being able to voice her opinions in a non-judgemental environment helps the anxious child relax and look at the problem more realistically. Make sure you understand what your child is saying by repeating key phrases back to her. Hold boundaries while expressing empathy by saying, "I understand that you are scared. Lots of people get scared in new situations. We will get through this."
Communicate
Once your anxious child has calmed down, offer him helpful suggestions to view the problem more realistically and tackle it in manageable pieces. Role-play various options if necessary to allow your child to experience what different problem-solving tactics feel like. Share any similar situations you experienced as a child, including how these experiences felt, how you handled them and what you learned from the experience.
Teach Relaxation Techniques
Anxious children have not developed effective ways to relax themselves. Solve problems by teaching effective relaxation techniques such as deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation. In deep breathing, children learn to focus on only their breathing, forgetting their anxiety. The practice of progressive muscle relaxation involves clenching and relaxing each muscle group. The progressive relaxation technique is another way to focus on something beside the anxiety.
References
- Understanding Special Education: Understanding Anxiety in Children
- The Highly Sensitive Person; What Is a Highly Sensitive Child?; Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D.
- Bella Online; How to Teach Kids Relaxation Meditation; Susan Helene Kramer
- "Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America"; Temperament and Anxiety Disorders; Koraly Perez-Edgar, Ph.D., et al.; 2005
- FamilyEducation; The Highly Sensitive Child: Parenting Strategies; Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D.; 1995
