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Tips to Help Children Cope with Stress

Tips to Help Children Cope with Stress

Kids don’t act, think or cope with stress the same way adults do. Much like adults, children can struggle with stress. From dealing with family conflicts, and problems at school to too many commitments and social issues, your children may find themselves stressed out.

While some stress is normal, it is important to maintain healthy levels. There are several ways to help your children cope with stress, helping them to lead less stressful lives.

Tips to Help Children Cope with Stress

How to Reduce Your Child’s Stress

Don’t Overschedule

One of the most stressful things for children is when they become overscheduled. Children are expected to excel at extracurriculars, deal with home work, long school days and chores all in one day. Then when that’s over they go to bed and start all over again. If there is no downtime worked into your little one’s day, your child is bound to get overwhelmed and stressed. Take a good look at your child’s schedule and make sure there is enough downtime worked in. This will help them to cope with stress.

Make Sure They are Getting Enough Sleep

The amount of sleep your little one gets each night has a huge impact on their stress levels. Sleep is a crucial component to your little one’s health, both mentally and physically, so ensuring they get enough is important. Instill a bedtime routine that you stick to and ensure that your little one is going to bed on time each night. This will help them to better deal with stress.

Teach Kids Coping Strategies for Stress

Breathing Exercises

Deep breaths have an amazing effect on stress. Teach your children to take deep breaths to combat their stress. When they are feeling overwhelmed have them focus on taking breaths in through their noses and out of their mouths. This will have a calming effect.

Encourage Them to Talk About it

Encourage your children to vocalize their stresses. This can help you to understand what is happening in their lives and help them navigate these feelings.

Teach Them to Use Their Imaginations

Sometimes visualizing things can help to move on from stress. Have your children use their imaginations to visualize the things that make them happy and calm. Have them think back to a fun beach day or use their imaginations to find shapes in the clouds. Doing these things can help to greatly reduce the stress they feel, allowing them to free themselves of it.

The key to helping your children cope with stress is to make sure that it’s not overwhelming. Don’t overschedule them and make sure they are getting enough sleep. When they do encounter feelings of stress, teaching them coping strategies can help them to relax and move on without becoming totally encompassed by it.