Southern Ag Center

Stressful events, such as natural disasters, make it hard for parents to help their children feel safe when they themselves do not. When you are scared, your child often senses it. The first step in taking care of your child is taking care of yourself.

Tune into yourself

Stress is a normal part of everyday life. But after a stressful event, feelings of worry affect our daily lives. The following are some changes you may experience:

Trouble sleeping

Crying

Feeling tired and unhappy

The feeling that you have little control over your life

A feeling of hopelessness about the future

What you can do

By soothing yourself, you are also helping to soothe and reassure your child. For example:

Stay connected with family and friends. Share your feelings, fears and concerns.

Maintain your daily routine as best you can.

Enjoy your child. Delight in the everyday moments that you both enjoy.

Rest, exercise and try to eat regular, balanced meals.

Talk to a health professional for support.

Helping your child cope

One important way to protect your children is to prevent their exposure to information they cannot handle. Keep the following in mind:

Ask friends and family members not to discuss scary events around your child.

Help your child identify her feelings by naming them, such as "scared," "sad," angry."

Be patient and calm when your child is clingy, whiny an aggressive.

Behaviors you might see

Increased clinginess, crying and whining.

Increase in aggressive behavior.

Changes in sleeping and eating patterns.

Frustrated and hard to comfort.

What you can do

Laugh and be silly together.

Read your favorite stories.

Enjoy the warmth of cuddling close.

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For more information, contact your Southern University Ag Center parish agent or visit www.suagcenter.com.

Reference:
ZERO TO THREE. (2005).
Made available by: SUAREC Family and Human Development