With all the uncertainties in today’s world, we are seeing stress and anxiety at an all-time high in adults AND their children. With kiddos, it very often can be the root cause of several other challenges such as difficulty sleeping, stomach issues, and instability of emotions. This stress starts to build on top of each other and their self-esteem and confidence is at stake. Parents are their children’s biggest cheerleaders, and want them to have the tools to adapt and chase their dreams, we can help.

For example, we often see that the same stress in an 8 year old with anxiety can lead to a 17 year old with depression, and then a 27 year old with fertility challenges. A lot of women in our practice that have fertility challenges can trace back to having anxiety at a younger age. Many times we hear “kids will grow out of it,” but it all goes back to their nervous system function and their ability to adapt. Stress develops over time, as do the results of the stress. The sooner we can intervene and disrupt this cycle of stress in your little one’s life, the better outcomes we see in the future. Here’s what to look for:

1. Sleeping Issues - Sleep is crucial because it gives our bodies time to rest and recover. Children with anxiety are unable to tap into their “brake pedal” side of their nervous systems so can’t “shut down” their brains to fall asleep. These kiddos may take hours to fall asleep, wake up multiple times per night, climb into bed with Mom and Dad, toss and turn, and experience night terrors, sleep talking and walking. Because they’re unable to get a full night's rest, they have little to no motivation, especially in the mornings.

2. Instability of Emotions - These children ride a roller coaster of emotions, and can change at the flip of a switch. Many times their reactions seem overboard, they cry easily and often, have little motivation, and throw temper tantrums because they aren’t able to create adequate responses to outside stimuli or stressors. This can result in a gap between emotional and physical development. When the brain is stuck in fight or flight mode, it’s not going to tap into rest and relaxation mode which is responsible for mental and emotional development. Although physical milestones may be met, the supporting emotional development may have some catching up to do.

3. Inflexibility - These kids may have OCD tendencies, be high strung and defensive. They experience lots of self pressure and performance pressure in school, sports, and home life. They have little to no coping mechanisms and go right into fight or flight reactions without really understanding why, increasing overall stress in their nervous system.

4. GI Stress, Immune Stress, Hormone stress - We may see these kids are always feeling unwell. They may experience multiple colds, chronic allergies, headaches, asthma, ear infections, Chrons/IBS because they are stuck in the sympathetic “dis-ease cycle” and the parasympathetic “wellness cycle” is unbalanced. Trauma, emotions, and toxins all contribute to the body’s stress load and at the end of the day are all connected to the vagus nerve (the biggest nerve in our systems!) which is why it’s crucial to make sure the nervous system is functioning properly to avoid this domino effect.

5. Low Self-Esteem and Confidence - Their social awareness may be lacking, they’re living in their own bubble, are awkward when communicating with others, aren’t involved in school, and may experience bullying issues. These kiddos feel disappointed, and doubt themselves. They truly want to be happy and increase self-esteem, but their nervous system is holding them back.

1. Balance - We must create balance between two sides of the nervous system to put the constant fight or flight reactions to rest, and create room to heal and develop the way they were intended to as kids. This will increase “relax and recover” function, development, immunity, digestive function, leading to a happy stress-less life.

2. Routines - Even in a world where things are changing daily, it’s so important to try and create and stick to routines. We need to try our best to help prepare kiddos to be ready for the days or weeks by decreasing stress surrounding the unknown. Helping them stay organized will help them see the sequence to move them forward so they’re not overwhelmed and anxious about what the day may hold.

3. Less Chaos - Lead by example! If your schedule is overwhelming, your child’s schedule is probably crazy. Reduce chaos and uncertainty, and let them be kids. This is especially difficult right now because things are changing every day, so be open and honest and try to keep things as simplified as possible. They feed off your energy, so limit stress in your life as well (come see us!). As a family, limit physical, emotional, and chemical stressors as much as possible

4. Movement - Moving creates a calming effect on our brains. Our brain needs to constantly be perceiving our environment through movement, so if there is an area of the body that isn’t moving properly, that will create noise going up to the brain. Movement is fuel for our brains and bodies to function properly.

1. Balance - We must create balance between two sides of the nervous system to put the constant fight or flight reactions to rest, and create room to heal and develop the way they were intended to as kids. This will increase “relax and recover” function, development, immunity, digestive function, leading to a happy stress-less life.

2. Routines - Even in a world where things are changing daily, it’s so important to try and create and stick to routines. We need to try our best to help prepare kiddos to be ready for the days or weeks by decreasing stress surrounding the unknown. Helping them stay organized will help them see the sequence to move them forward so they’re not overwhelmed and anxious about what the day may hold.

3. Less Chaos - Lead by example! If your schedule is overwhelming, your child’s schedule is probably crazy. Reduce chaos and uncertainty, and let them be kids. This is especially difficult right now because things are changing every day, so be open and honest and try to keep things as simplified as possible. They feed off your energy, so limit stress in your life as well (come see us!). As a family, limit physical, emotional, and chemical stressors as much as possible

4. Movement - Moving creates a calming effect on our brains. Our brain needs to constantly be perceiving our environment through movement, so if there is an area of the body that isn’t moving properly, that will create noise going up to the brain. Movement is fuel for our brains and bodies to function properly.