How to Teach Your Young Child Effective Stress Management Techniques

The compounding factors of living in such a fast-paced society lead to higher levels of stress among many people. The average adult has learned, through much trial, error and angst, how to manage that stress in order to keep functioning. But often adults forget that children tend to absorb the emotions of their parents. This has resulted in an increase in stress and even depression in many children during the last decade or so. Teaching your child(ren) to manage stress at an early age may help to prevent daily stress from becoming an ongoing issue contributing to a much more serious mental health problem.

To teach your children stress management, you must first work on helping them to identify when their little bodies are experiencing stress. For example, when you notice signs of frustration such as their hands clinch into a little fist or an angry expression on their face, or perhaps even a large sigh or groan when they can't seem to do something the way they want to do it, point it out and explain to them what they are feeling. Make sure to use words they understand and use this as a way to introduce stress management techniques.

Here are some simple stress management children can understand:

1) Deep breathing: Have your child pretend to "smell the roses and blow out the candles". This promotes inhaling through the nose and exhaling the mouth, which has been proved the most effective breathing pattern for soothing the body.

2) Exercise: Some children have too much energy to do deep breathing initially. In this case, exercise can provide a positive outlet for all of the excess energy created by stress or other negative emotions. If choosing this technique, the most important piece to include is a cool down phase. For example, doing 10 jumping jacks followed by slow stretching and one minute of quiet. Continue to encourage deep breathing as explained above for optimal cool down time.

3) Comforting Place: Children's bodies are easily excited or calmed down by their surroundings. The tricky part is that each child's system works a little differently. What may calm one child down excites another. It may help to create a space just for comforting your child. Work together with your child to identify textures that are pleasing to their senses, and perhaps a toy or two that quiets them down. If you include toys, they should not have batteries or be entertaining without some level of imagination. If they are, your child may only learn to repress their feelings and replace it with other more exciting sensations instead of dealing with those emotions.

4) Healing Touch: Discover what types of touch are calming to your child. Some prefer deep touch like a tight hug, others prefer light touch like stroking the face. When you know what works best for your child, help them learn appropriate ways of seeking out this type of touch if they need to calm their system down.

Of course, it is easiest to teach your child these methods when it's not you they are frustrated with, but as all parents know, that's not often the case! So, if it's you they are mad at, make sure you use a calming voice in responding to them. Allow them to voice their frustrations. Perhaps make a suggestion or reminder of a strategy you have taught them before. Give them time and when they are beginning to chill out, talk to them again. Open a dialogue about feelings and perhaps give examples of what makes you feel the way they are feeling towards you. Remind them that you love them and you are in charge of their safety which is why you can't always let them do whatever they want. Explain that this fact may make them feel frustrated at times, but you have some ways to help deal with those feelings. Introduce only one or two strategies at a time and feel out which one or ones may be most effective for your child.

In the long run, these simple strategies could help prepare your child to handle the let downs and frustrations of daily life so that as they grow up, they will develop more healthy ways to adjust no matter what hand life deals.