Practical Strategies to Calm Anxiety in Children

Whether you have a child that struggles with anxiety or you struggle with it, you know how difficult it can be! I’ve got two daughters who struggle with anxiety, which can sometimes make things a struggle. One child thinks of every worst possible outcome that could happen in a certain situation. Another daughter makes herself feel physically ill when she’s stressed about unfamiliar things where she doesn’t know what to expect. Over years of traveling, trying new restaurants, and otherwise fun family events, we have learned tricks to make anxiety less or at least bearable. Hopefully, you find something useful in these tips for how to calm anxiety in children.

Plan Ahead

One of the best ways I have found to calm anxiety in children is to plan ahead. With my oldest daughter, we’ve learned that planning everything out in advance so she knows what to expect helps. Prepare for situations that may arise once you’ve learned which things cause anxiety. For example, occasionally, the oldest will get motion sickness. This only seems to come on when she’s worked herself into a state of anxiousness. So while we also do things like Dramamine, I am always prepared with motion sickness bags, extra clothes, and gum. We do our best to try and prevent the sickness, but if it happens, it’s best to be prepared. Concerts are another example where my daughter struggles due to sensory issues. We’ve learned to always have earplugs available in case she needs them.

Talk it Through

My younger daughter likes to talk things through when she has anxiety. She comes up with worst-case scenarios and says, ‘But what if this happens.’ Sometimes I admit the things she comes up with make you want to laugh (but I resist that urge). I’ve learned to let her discuss her feelings and get her worst-case scenarios out. We also try to talk about how she could handle each situation if it did occur and what the outcome would be. I think it helps her to get her concerns out in the open.

Set Up Routines

With my older daughter’s anxiety, I learned that making things as predictable as possible can help situations to go more smoothly. I fully agree that I want my girls to learn to go with the flow and handle things as they come, but whenever there are small things we can keep in a routine, it helps. Traveling causes my daughter anxiety, even though we do it quite often.

We’ve reached the point where we have a specific routine when traveling. Even if there are delays, we can take it as it comes. I’ve come up with my list of travel essentials for my kids, and I make sure we always have those items! Having a routine takes some of the guessing game out; for the most part, we know exactly what to expect. You may think this would make her less able to go with the flow, but she does quite well with travel delays because we’ve set up the rest of the routine that she is familiar with.

Practice Patience

This one is so important but can be one of the hardest to follow through on. Sometimes anxiety comes out more like a meltdown, frustration, or attitude from your child. Add in a situation like traveling that’s stressful for you also, and you’ve got a recipe for frustration and lost patience. I am not suggesting allowing your kids to act however they want, but I have found that if I can remain calm, it goes a long way toward keeping anxious feelings down. As I mentioned in the previous tip, I try to make it a point to talk things through and understand where anxiousness (and subsequent attitude) are coming from.

Positive Reinforcement

Whenever my girls can work through their emotions or handle things effectively, I always try to point out and reinforce that behavior. We all need lessons on effectively managing the world as it comes at us. I believe there are definitely right and wrong ways to react to situations. I want to affirm my kids whenever they handle things healthily. Making it a point to give your kids positive reinforcement any time they effectively communicate and work through their anxiety is so important. Hopefully, they will continue to utilize those methods to calm their anxiety, and it will serve them as adults!

I hope you found some helpful tips for how to calm anxiety in children! If you have any tips that have worked for you and your family I would love to hear them. Please feel free to comment or contact me here or on social media with any thoughts, additions, or questions! Come over and follow me on Instagram or join my VIP Facebook group if you haven’t already. I love connecting with new people!