In a few, short days our beautiful little people will head back to school. For most families it’s a combination of excitement mixed with sadness because the school holidays are over. For some, like us, back to school time is quite challenging due to back to school anxiety. Much to my surprise I’ve realised that we are not alone, there are many families who struggle at this time of year.
Now back to school jitters are completely normal and fade after a few weeks but for children who struggle with anxiety, it can be quite stressful.
Signs of back to school anxiety
- Seeking reassurance or continually asking the same question even though they have already received an answer.
- Change in sleep patterns – taking longer to get to sleep, waking with worries in the night.
- Tummy ache (when they are not unwell)
- Fatigue or headache. (when they are not unwell)
*If your child complains of these symptoms you should make an appointment to see a doctor to make sure that they don’t have an underlying medical condition.
How can I help my child?
- Don’t dismiss their fears. Acknowledge their fear.
- Strategize how to handle the thing they are afraid of.
- Let them know that you have confidence in their ability to handle this.
- When it comes time for school, make sure that your child’s teacher and the school are aware of their anxiety.
- Practice school routines.
- Try to stay calm yourself (this one is hard at times, I know!)
- For little ones, the classroom hand of can be challenging, try to get the teacher to give your child a job/to involve them. Most children recover quite quickly once mum or dad leave.
- Keep sending them to school, as hard as it is. If you don’t, you’ll reinforce their fear.
*If your child’s worries start to interfere with their ability to do normal activities please take them to see a doctor.
Don’t forget, meditation and calming, relaxing music and sounds work really well once they are in bed. You can get some fantastic apps like Headspace, Smiling Minds or Relax Melodies. You can head to ourSleep apps blogto read our top 5 apps to help them sleep.
We also highly recommend ourDuski Dream Guardiansto help them sleep. They combine a colour changing night light (at your desired brightness) and a Bluetooth speaker to stream meditation, sounds and to help them relax at night.
*All information contained in this blog is the personal opinion of My Night Light, which comes from our own experience with childhood anxiety. We are not, nor claim to be, medical professionals.