Recognising Stress in Our Children: Understanding and Support During Stress Awareness Month

As we welcome April with its warmer days, it’s also a great time to remember that it’s Stress Awareness Month – a perfect chance to talk about something we often overlook: stress in children.

It’s easy to think that children don’t have much to stress about – no jobs or bills to worry about. But if we look a little closer, we’ll see that they have their own challenges. From school pressures to changes at home, stress can affect children too, just in their own unique way.

Recognising Stress in Children

Unlike adults, children don’t always have the words to tell us when they’re feeling stressed, so their emotions often show up in other ways. For little ones, stress might look like them going back to behaviours they’ve outgrown, like thumb sucking or bedwetting. School aged children might seem more irritable, have trouble focusing in class, or suddenly struggle with their schoolwork. You might also notice changes in how they sleep, eat, or a sudden lack of interest in activities they used to love. Keep an eye out for these signs – they could be clues that your child is feeling overwhelmed.

Why It’s Important to Understand Stress in Children

As adults, we often think of childhood as a time of pure fun and freedom, but children can experience stress just like adults do. Sometimes, we overlook how much pressure they can feel, which can have a big impact on their mental health, emotional growth, and how they handle the world around them.

Recognising the signs of stress early on gives us the chance to step in before it becomes something bigger, like anxiety or depression. Especially during Stress Awareness Month, it’s a good time to raise awareness and help children who might not yet have the words to explain how they’re feeling.

Practical Tips for Managing Stress in Children

1. Open Communication: Foster an environment where your children feel safe discussing their feelings. Ask open-ended questions that encourage them to express themselves.
2. Routine Helps: Children thrive on routine as it provides them with a sense of security. Maintaining a regular schedule, especially during school days and before bedtime, can reduce stress.
3. Encourage Play: Play is a natural stress reliever. It’s not only essential for development but also helps children cope with stress. Make time for unstructured play.
4. Teach Mindfulness: Simple mindfulness activities can be very effective in helping children manage stress. Techniques like breathing exercises, or mindful colouring can help calm their mind.
5. Be a Role Model: Managing your own stress in healthy ways shows your children how to handle stress. When they see you taking steps to manage stress, they learn to do the same.

Supporting Each Other

Let’s use this month as an opportunity to learn more about how stress affects our children and what we can do to help them. By learning more about this topic and sharing our thoughts, we can help provide our little ones with the tools they need to manage stress healthily.

Ultimately, it’s not about protecting them from every challenge, it’s about being there for them as they discover how to navigate the highs and lows of life.