Is Your Child Experiencing Anxiety?

Has your child’s behavior taken a turn? Could it be anxiety? I KNOW, the word anxiety can mean a million things and it can be really confusing. But it’s important for parents to have an idea of where their kiddos are. Every child has their thing especially during different seasons of their life. It’s important to look at what is normal for a two-year-old. A three-year-old. A ten-year-old. As the brain grows, evolves, and experiences things, it either balances or gets more imbalanced. 

Here are few scenarios to look at if you are wondering if your child is experiencing anxiety:

1. Sleep issues – Maybe it takes your child a long time to get to sleep or they are waking up with nightmares. Did your child fall asleep quickly before but now it’s taking her 30 minutes to an hour to actually fall asleep. Or they are coming into your room because they are having nightmares. Come up with a night routine for your child. There are a few important do’s and don’t for a bedtime routine. Be consistent, offer choices, start early and avoid electronics. 
2. Eating changes – If your child had a pretty normal appetite and now they are either eating way more or way less than before, it is important to take notice. 
3. Emotional changes – Have you noticed your child making negative comments? This can be extremely scary for parents. Comments such as “I’d rather be dead”, “I don’t have any friends”, “I am fat/ugly” those things are surefire signs that there is likely a brain imbalance. If you are noticing big emotional changes such as anger, temper tantrums, irritability, or nervousness these could all lead to anxiety. 
4. Avoidance – If your child is normally social, sporty, with friends and now they are sleeping until 11 or staying in bed all day, this is a sign of retreat. When they stop doing the things they normally enjoy, it is an area of concern. 

You might notice one thing in your child, you might notice them all. During moments of anxiety, your body is in overload and cannot process the external environment appropriately, and outside help is needed. It’s important to communicate with your child when you see these changes happening. Start asking the right questions, find the right people to help and you will have solutions. Chiropractic helps reset the brain to a place where it can move forward with calmness. Our life is NOT meant to be full of anxiety, depression, pain, worry, and fear and that is definitely no life for a kid. Do your child a huge favor and see your chiropractor today. Their body is brilliant and chiropractic helps it flourish.