How to help children ages 2-5
At this age, although children are making big developmental advances, they still depend on parents to nurture them. As with babies, they typically respond to situations according to how parents react. If you are calm and confident, your child will feel more secure. If you act anxious or overwhelmed, your child may feel unsafe.
Typical reactions of children ages 2 to 5:
- Talking repeatedly about the event or pretending to "play" the event
- Tantrums or irritable outbursts
- Crying and tearfulness
- Increased fearfulness - often of the dark, monsters, or being alone
- Increased sensitivity to sounds like thunder, wind, and other loud noises
- Disturbances in eating, sleeping, and toileting
- Believing that the disaster can be undone
- Excessive clinging to caregivers and trouble separating
- Reverting to early behavior like baby talk, bed-wetting, and thumb-sucking
What you can do:
- Make your child feel safe. Hold, hug and cuddle your child as much as possible. Tell them you will take care of them when they feel sad or scared. With children who are learning to talk, use simple phrases such as 'Mommy's here."
- Watch what you say. Little children have big ears and may pick up on your anxiety, misinterpret what they hear, or be frightened unnecessarily by things they do not understand.
- Maintain routines as much as possible. No matter what your living situation, do your best to have regular mealtimes and bedtimes. If you are homeless or have been relocated, create new routines. Try to do the things you have always done with your children, such as singing songs or saying prayers before they go to sleep.
- Give extra support at bedtime. Children who have been through trauma may become anxious at night. When you put your child to bed, spend more time than usual talking or telling stories. It's okay to make a temporary arrangement for young children to sleep with you, but with the understanding that they will go back to normal sleeping arrangements at a set future date.
- Do not expose kids to the news. Young children tend to confuse facts with fears. They may not realize that the images they see on the news aren't happening again and again. They should also not listen to the radio.