Helping Your Child Cope With Loss and Grief

Dealing with loss is never easy and for children it can be even harder as they cannot yet comprehend what they are going through. You need to ensure that you are there for your child and that you provide as much care and love to ensure that they can go through the stages of grief without any emotional scars.



Explaining Death to Children

Not only is it ungrateful, but it is also hard to explain death to a child. Depending on their age they might understand what is going on and how they can deal with their emotions. Nevertheless, be sure to sit down and to talk it over because a child’s concept of death might be distorted. Exemplify and explain what death means and that unfortunately, the person who passed away cannot return home anymore. On the other hand, try to make them understand that feeling sad and angry is a natural process they should go through.

Let Them Express Their Feelings

Everyone reacts differently to loss, and you need to give time to your kid to express what they feel and to let their emotions out. Moreover, try not to force what you might feel onto them, as they could be grieving in their own way. Though, be sure to empathize with them, and to teach them what it means to understand someone’s perspective because it will be a good opportunity to develop their emotional intelligence. The important thing is to teach your child not to bottle up emotions because when they explode, it could cause more damage than good. And losing a loved one can cause a devastating rush of emotions.



Make Sure to Be Supportive

In order to help your kid to pull through the grieving period, you have to ensure that you are there for them providing support. On the other hand, do not be ashamed to show your own emotions and grief in front of them, to help them grasp what loss means to you and your family. Be patient when helping your kid through grieving, as they will need time to come to terms with the actual loss of a beloved person. Nonetheless, be with them whenever they need a comforting word or a shoulder to cry on. Being supportive will help them cope with the loss they went through with more ease.

Try to Avoid Sugar-Coating It

Children might not grasp everything going around them, but they are not that blunt. They will sense if you are not telling them the truth. Funeral directors from Sydney say: “Be honest and never teach a child something they will later have to unlearn.” It is better to try and make them understand the pain and to go through it quickly, without having to suffer for a long time. Furthermore, honesty will have them understand it more clearly and make sure that they are not going to introvert too much to get locked out from the world. After all, they deserve to know and understand the truth behind the loss.



Letting go of emotions and feelings for a loved person can be problematic for anyone, but children will need more care in order to understand to the full extent what has happened. Then again, grieving has many stages everyone goes through and you need to give time to your child to experience them all and to come to peace with their loss. Be sure to help them through and to talk with them in order to show your support and that their process of grief is normal. Encourage them to show their feelings as it will help cope with sadness.