Child Anxiety FAQs

How To Discipline A Child Whose Anxiety Shows Up As Tantrums Or Defiance

This is a greatly misunderstood and frustrating area for parents. Most parents have tried all kinds of approaches, none of which seem to work and some which only make the child escalate or shut down even more.

Once we address the underlying issue of what is triggering a child’s anxiety triggered noncompliance to following a parent’s guidance or rules, we find that a child can then self regulate and follow through with what is expected of him or her at home or school.

The key is not to focus on trying to change a child’s acting out behaviors to start off with. Rather, we go for the core issue of what is getting in the way of a child complying.

Bedtime Struggles For Children With Anxiety

Struggling to fall asleep because of specific fears, worries about the next day or the mind racing on all kinds of bothersome negative thinking is common for children with anxiety.

Oftentimes, a child will have the habit of only falling asleep if the parent is present in the room, the child pleads to fall asleep in the parent’s bed or they crawl in the parent’s bed in the middle of the night.

None of these sleeping arrangements options are helpful for the child nor the parent in the long run. We offer a variety of natural techniques to help a child fall asleep so everyone gets a good night's sleep:

• Guided mindfulness meditation apps for children
• Set an individualized bedtime
• Set an individualized wake up time
• Create a consistent bedtime routine
• Turn off screens 2 hours before bedtime
• Reduce stressors before bedtime
• Create a sleep-inducing environment (dark room, soft sheets, cool temperature)
• Breathing techniques specific for sleep
• Essential oils or supplements that help induce sleep
• Be on the lookout for sleep disorder-restless legs, snoring, grinding teeth