Many children are afraid of storms, especially when they can be destructive in their neighbourhood with high winds, power outages, and broken trees. It is normal for a child to seek comfort from their parents during a storm. Recognize and validate their feelings. Keep a calm attitude as much as possible when dealing with your child so that he or she does not become caught up in your stress and worry. You can reduce stress and worry by grounding your child during the storm. Redirecting their attention away from the bad weather will help.
During the Storm
Deep Breathing
Also known as belly breathing- helps anxious children calm down. Have your child, breathe in slowly through your nose. The belly swells up under your hand. Holding your breath, pause for a second or two. Slowly breathe out through your mouth. Doing this a few times, the body does calm down.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique Activity: The most common way to ground your child quickly is by using your senses.
Five things they can see; they may see the lighting (awareness is important, the hyperfocus is not) Encourage them to find other things that are in the house they can see.
Four things they can feel; let them feel different textures around the room and describe how they feel (rough, soft, etc.).
Three things they can hear; they may hear thunder or lightning (awareness again - just not hyper-focus). Encourage them to hear other things in the house (tv, voices, music, animals walking around)
Two things they can smell;
One thing they can taste.
Memory Games
As a family, while the storm is active, try some of these quick memory games together and see who can come up with the answers first. The objective is to divert their attention from the bad weather.
Having someone pick a number, ask them to list several animals, sports teams, and ice cream flavours under each category.
Slowly reciting the alphabet in reverse
Count up to 100 by 5s, 2s, 1s, or even in reverse
Try to remember everything you ate over the last 2 days
RIght After the Storm
Reassure your child that they are safe after the storm and that they did a great job getting through that uncomfortable feeling. There will always be uncomfortable moments in their life, but if they can figure out how to handle them now, they will become stronger. That is called resiliency. Give them lots of praise, and remind them that if they need to talk about how they are feeling, you are available to them. As parents, try to return to your normal routine as soon as possible and avoid discussing in the household how bad the storm was.
In the Days Following the Storm
Fears, worries and stress may linger after a bad storm. You may find your child asking questions about the weather (forecasts) or patterns almost every day thereafter the storm. They might have nightmares, be afraid of being outside alone, worry that a storm is coming, etc. Since their worries can seem quite real to them, I urge you not to discount or minimize their feelings. What you can do to restore their sense of security
Education is essential- Fears are stemmed from the unknown. Those with more knowledge will be more capable of understanding the unknown. Books, websites or other resources that discuss storms. It is a good thing for children to know what storms are caused by however, ensure the literature you provide does not go into the destruction of a storm.
Have a family safety plan in place -By planning and preparing, you can take control of the situation and give your child some safety knowing you have a plan in place. You should make a safety plan when the weather is calm and the sun is shining. Plan where you will go for shelter if there is a sudden change in the weather next time a storm is brewing. Explain how weather alerts work and why they give families time to prepare and stay safe. Remind them that safety is our first priority. It will set their minds more at ease.
Encouragement-It is important to be warm and encouraging when you are working on ways to help your child overcome their fear. A child should not be punished for feeling scared. This will only worsen their situation, and their anxiety will be only heightened by this parental enforcement.
Weeks After A Storm
When your child still exhibits fears of weather, worries about it has nightmares that do not end or shows obsessions with it despite all your attempts to reassure and educate them, it is time to seek professional help. Counselling will help your child face their fears through cognitive behavourial therapy, exposure therapy, and play therapy. Each has its own success rate depending on the child.
If your child is struggling and needs a little extra support to manage their anxiety, please reach out to support@healthyroutes.ca. We would love to provide some relief in the home and assist in getting that child on a happier, healthier path.
Visit our website at www.healthyroutes.ca.
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