How to persuade a child who feels stressed

When children feel stressed, parents can help alleviate it by listening and empathizing, adjusting expectations, establishing regular routines, guiding reasonable venting, and cultivating interests. Stress may stem from factors such as academic burden, social difficulties, changes in family environment, high self demands, or physiological development.

1. Listen and empathize

Squat down and communicate with the child at eye level, using "Do you think homework is difficult to complete, right?" instead of questioning. Set aside 15 minutes of exclusive conversation time every day to help young children express their emotions through drawing or doll games. Avoid discussing sensitive topics at the dining table and gently tap your back instead of interrupting when your child is crying.

2. Adjust Expectations

Change "Must be in the top three" to "Better than last time", using a step-by-step goal setting method. Regularly hold family meetings to reassess the number of extracurricular classes and reserve the right to make independent choices for adolescent children. Showcasing parents' own experiences of learning from failures to alleviate perfectionism tendencies.

3. Regular schedule

Disable electronic devices one hour before bedtime and use parent-child reading instead of practicing exercises. Ensure that primary school students have 1 hour of outdoor running time every day, and increase their diet with magnesium rich nuts and dark green vegetables. Reserve half a day of free time on weekends to avoid being filled up by interest classes.

4. Reasonable expression

Teach children to release emotions through safe methods such as hitting pillows and tearing waste paper. Older children can try writing emotional diaries. Set up a family stress relieving corner and place stress relieving toys. The whole family should engage in aerobic activities such as dancing or cycling every week. Be alert to physical manifestations such as repeated nail biting and hair pulling.

5. Cultivate Interest

Choose art or sports activities based on the child's temperament type, such as sensitive type suitable for pottery, lively type suitable for ball games. Try new experiences every quarter but no more than two, and hold a family exhibition after completing the work. Emphasize the joy of the participation process rather than the ranking of the competition. Long term stress may affect children's growth, development, and immunity, manifested as frequent abdominal pain, difficulty falling asleep, or refusal to go to school. Parents need to observe whether the stressor persists for more than a month to avoid transmitting their anxiety to their children. An emotional thermometer can be made to help children quantify stress levels. When there is a tendency towards self harm or sustained depression, timely guidance from a psychologist should be sought. Use descriptive praise to reinforce positive behavior in daily life, such as' Your proactive skipping rope when you were angry just now was great '.