Child Anxiety Tips For Parents

It is thought to affect approximately one in ten children, and so child anxiety tips are definitely something that you, as a parent or teacher, need to be able to help your kids. Here are some tips to help children develop the confidence and skills they need to deal with the stressors that can lead to child anxiety.

Child Anxiety Tips for Parents
Expose your child to play groups, birthday parties, after-school activities, or other social situations where they will have opportunities to interact with other kids. This will help them get more used to different social situations.

Encourage your child to speak up, such as ordering food in a restaurant. Don't speak for your child, let them do the talking.

Praise or offer rewards for speaking up. For example, offer a trip to the movies if he or she asks for the tickets at the box office

Lead by example. Teach your child by showing how you handle social situations. It is important to model the behavior you want from your children.

Child Anxiety Tips for Teachers
Find ways to get socially anxious students more involved, such as calling on them in class

Explain to these students beforehand that you want to help them feel more comfortable in class, not more embarrassed

Coach them, if necessary, to make sure they know the answers

Remind them that speaking up in class will get easier with practice

Do not single out a student; call on all of them for answers

Incorporate oral presentations into your curriculum to help all your students develop confidence in public speaking

Child Anxiety Tips to Find Help
Taking your child to the doctor for a mental health problem is as important as visiting the doctor for an ear infection or broken arm. But knowing when and where to seek mental health care can be difficult. Here are some these tips for parents to make the process easier.

When to seek help
There are many signs, both physical and behavioral, that can point to a child that is having a problem with anxiety. If you are beginning to notice things that just don't seem normal, or don't seem to fit in with other kids their age, start making some notes about what, where, and when that you can take with you to discuss with your child's doctor. When the anxiety begins to affect their life at home and school, you need to take steps to get help. Look for signs and changes in the following areas:

Eating habits or appetite

Sleeping

Schoolwork

Activity level

Mood

Relationships with family or friends

Aggressive behavior

Behavior typical of a younger child

Speech and language and other development milestones

Child Anxiety Tips
All kids go through stages in their development where they are less sure of themselves and become shy and anxious. When these stages go on for a longer than usual time and begin to affect your child's life, as well as your own, it is time to ask your doctor about it and get professional help for your child.