What To Do When Your Child Cries A Lot
When you have a child who cries excessively over absolutely everything, you experience a range of emotions from frustration to concern to being at an absolute loss for words. Crying is expected as our children don’t always have words to express themselves and we all know tears release emotions. But if you think your child cries a lot more than normal perhaps have a quick read.
Check for stress.
Make sure they get enough sleep and have naps during the day.
Watch their sugar and preservative intake.
Limit screen time.
Make time for a little stroll every afternoon.
Build your child’s emotional intelligence. Think of the last time you cried. Were you sad? You may have been angry, scared, or grateful. Tears are an outward expression of inner feelings, so give your child a vocabulary to use in place of the tears. Use words like angry, sad, mad and colours may help too. You can also use lego pieces for younger children. There is a wonderful book I used to read to my children called My Many Coloured Days by Dr Seuss.
While the tears are flowing validate your child’s feelings. When your child cries a lot over seemingly small things, like not being able to find the clips she wants to put in her hair, is struggling to manage emotions, which is connected to the ability to regulate daily tasks. You can recognise the problem but don’t try to fix it. Don’t give in to the tears. Whatever your child is crying over, don’t let it change your behavior. Be strong!
Tears don’t necessarily mean your child is hurt, sad, or even disappointed. She may just be struggling to gain control. Giving in and running off to buy new hair clips is giving in to her demands and is simply not an answer.
Once you’ve acknowledged why the tears are flowing, help your child make a choice that will move him or her toward peace. Try to talk to your child as calmly as possible and explain that, that is not a reason to cry. That’s a reason to ask for help. As much as we want to validate our children’s emotions, we also want them to see that not everything is worth crying about and one of the best ways is to let them know that they can simply just ask you for help.
If things are getting worse instead of better or something seems abnormal and you feel like you simply can not cope and would like to shake your child to stop crying you should book a counsellor for yourself and a quick examination from a paediatrician just so you can have some much-needed peace.
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