Getting Your Child to Eat (Almost) Anything (Harvard Medical School Guides)

For example, they may worry about being kidnapped or getting lost. Refusal to go to school. A child with separation anxiety disorder may have an unreasonable fear of school, and will do almost anything to stay home.

Reluctance to go to sleep. Separation anxiety disorder can make children insomniacs, either because of the fear of being alone or due to nightmares about separation. Physical sickness like a headache or stomachache. At the time of separation, or before, children with separation anxiety problems often complain they feel ill. Clinging to the caregiver. Your child may shadow you around the house or cling to your arm or leg if you attempt to step out. Separation anxiety disorder occurs because a child feels unsafe in some way.

Changes in surroundings, such as a new house, school, or day care situation, can trigger separation anxiety disorder. Stressful situations like switching schools, divorce, or the loss of a loved one—including a pet—can trigger separation anxiety problems. In some cases, separation anxiety disorder may be the manifestation of your own stress or anxiety.

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The attachment bond is the emotional connection formed between an infant and their primary caretaker. While a secure attachment bond ensures that your child will feel secure, understood and calm enough for optimal development, an insecure attachment bond can contribute to childhood problems such as separation anxiety. Although these two conditions can share symptoms, they are treated differently.

By understanding the effects of traumatic stress on children , you can help your child benefit from the most fitting treatment. Rather than trying to avoid separation whenever possible, you can better help your child combat separation anxiety disorder by taking steps to make them feel safer. Providing a sympathetic environment at home can make your child feel more comfortable.

Educate yourself about separation anxiety disorder. If you learn about how your child experiences this disorder, you can more easily sympathize with their struggles. For a child who might already feel isolated by their disorder, the experience of being listened to can have a powerful healing effect.

Talk about the issue. Be ready for transition points that can cause anxiety for your child, such as going to school or meeting with friends to play. If your child separates from one parent more easily than the other, have that parent handle the drop off. Keep calm during separation. If your child sees that you can stay cool, they are more likely to be calm, too.

Support the child's participation in activities. Encourage your child to participate in healthy social and physical activities. Use the smallest of accomplishments—going to bed without a fuss, a good report from school—as reason to give your child positive reinforcement. Provide a consistent pattern for the day. Routines provide children with a sense of security and help to eliminate their fear of the unknown. Try to be consistent with mealtimes, bedtimes and the like. Let your child know that although you understand their feelings, there are rules in your household that need to be followed.

Like routines, setting and enforcing limits helps your child know what to expect from any given situation. If your child is given a choice or some element of control in their interaction with you, they may feel more safe and comfortable. For example, you can give your child a choice about where at school they want to be dropped off or which toy they want to take to daycare. For children with separation anxiety disorder, attending school can seem overwhelming and a refusal to go is commonplace.

Help a child who has been absent from school return as quickly as possible. Even if a shorter school day is necessary initially, children's symptoms are more likely to decrease when they discover that they can survive the separation. If the school can be lenient about late arrival at first, it can give you and your child a little wiggle room to talk and separate at your child's slower pace. Identify a safe place. Find a place at school where your child can go to reduce anxiety during stressful periods.

Develop guidelines for appropriate use of the safe place. Allow your child contact with home. At times of stress at school, a brief phone call—a minute or two—with family may reduce separation anxiety. Send notes for your child to read. You can place a note for your child in their lunch box or locker. A quick "I love you! Provide assistance to your child during interactions with peers. Reward your child's efforts. Just like at home, every good effort—or small step in the right direction—deserves to be praised. Kids with anxious or stressed parents may be more prone to separation anxiety.

In order to help your child ease their anxiety symptoms, you may need to take measures to become calmer and more centered yourself. Talk about your feelings. Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress.

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A well-nourished body is better prepared to cope with stress, so eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, and healthy fats, and try to avoid junk food, sugary snacks, and refined carbohydrates. You can control your stress levels with relaxation techniques like yoga, deep breathing, or meditation.

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Feeling tired only increases your stress, causing you to think irrationally or foggily, while sleeping well directly improves your mood and the quality of your waking life. Keep your sense of humor. As well as boosting your outlook, the act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a variety of ways.

Your own patience and know-how can go a long way toward helping your child with separation anxiety disorder. But some kids with separation anxiety disorder may need professional intervention. Remember, these may also be symptoms of a trauma that your child has experienced. If this is the case, it is important to see a child trauma specialist.

Helping Children Cope with Trauma. Your Brain on Yoga presents compelling scientific evidence about how yoga and meditation can change our brains, and our lives, by reducing stress, strengthening parts of the brain responsible for memory, and providing a sense of peace and calm. Your Brain on Yoga explains how regularly practicing yoga can reduce your heart rate and blood pressure, increase lung capacity, and help treat conditions such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

If you have a picky eater in your home, you know the daily challenge of planning a healthy diet for him or her. Getting Your Child to Eat Almost Anything offers insights into why kids become picky eaters and delivers surprising, simple, and effective solutions to help your child enjoy food and get the nourishment he or she needs.

Separation Anxiety and Separation Anxiety Disorder

Does your child struggle with sleep at night, or with waking up and staying awake during the day? Almost two-thirds of women have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or sleep through the night but wake up feeling exhausted. Successful Sleep Strategies for Women presents the latest research about why women have such trouble sleeping, and details proven strategies for falling asleep sooner, sleeping better, and waking up rested.

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