At school and at home, children face numerous transitions and challenges. When things around them change, it can feel sudden. Even if they aren’t facing a life transition, children can still feel stress in their day-to-day lives for various reasons. Subtle shifts in their behavior due to stress often go unnoticed by parents. Here’s how you can spot stress in your child and what you can do to help them:
Sources of Stress for Children
Children don’t always reach out to a trusted adult for help when dealing with stress. Sometimes they may not recognize that they’re feeling stressed, especially if changes are occurring rapidly or their daily routines are too busy. This means caregivers must be attentive in understanding why children become stressed and identifying the signs in order to support them through it. These are some common sources of stress for children:
- Balancing responsibilities, like school and extracurriculars
- Changing schools or moving homes
- Dealing with family dynamic changes
Spotting Signs of Stress
Unfortunately, children sometimes lack the words to express when they’re feeling overwhelmed. Instead, stress usually shows up through changes in their behavior, emotions or even physical health. Here are some common signs to look out for:
- Struggling in school: Significant changes in school performance are often among the first signs of stress. Children may lose focus or withdraw from their social circles as a result of feeling overwhelmed.
- Trouble sleeping: Children who are stressed may have trouble falling asleep or may even experience nightmares.
- Increased irritability: Emotional outbursts that are inconsistent with previous behavior can be a strong indicator that your child is feeling stressed.
- Physical symptoms: Things like a lack of appetite, headaches and stomach aches with no physical illness are common signs of stress in children.
How to Help with Stress Management
Now that you know the reasons why children become stressed and how to identify it, it’s time to think about the ways you can help them through it. As a parent, you play a key role in guiding your child through stressful moments. Here are a few simple ways to help them with stress management:
Find Time to Talk
Children may have a tough time navigating uncomfortable or tough conversations, so try to find moments to chat when you’re doing something together. These conversations could take place while on a walk, at bedtime, or on the way to and from school and other activities. Sometimes, simply talking it out is just what they need to release some of the stress they’ve been carrying.
Empower Them to Make Choices
Since children go through many changes and transitions they can’t control, try giving them choices whenever possible. This could include picking the movie to watch as a family, choosing the game for family game night, or deciding what to have for dinner. Giving children choice helps build their confidence and shows them that their voice matters.
Encourage Them to Participate in Activities They Enjoy
A big move or switching schools may cause your child to have to leave their extracurricular activities behind. Encourage them to pick up these previously enjoyed activities to restore balance. This may mean finding a new sports team in your new neighborhood or finding similar clubs at their new school. Even if they haven’t switched schools, extracurricular activities are a great outlet for socialization, skill building and, ultimately, stress reduction.
Ask Their Teachers for Help
Teachers may be able to spot signs of stress that you may not recognize at home. Teachers are also often able to advise you on how to deal with these behaviors based on their experiences with other students. Check in with them. Ask if your child is making friends, how they’re doing in their studies, and if they’ve had any recent changes in behavior or mood.
Taking Care of Yourself
As a parent, taking care of yourself is invaluable to helping your child feel safe, supported and less stressed. Children are often highly sensitive to the emotions of those around them, and they’re more likely to become stressed if they see that their parents are stressed. If you model healthy coping and stress management skills, they will naturally pick up those skills and behaviors.
At Lake Forrest Prep, we know how important it is for our students to manage stress—not only for their academic success but also for their well-being. Our Orlando Private School is dedicated to fostering a nurturing environment where students feel heard, respected and supported. Learn more about our campus culture by visiting our website or by scheduling a tour.