anxiety in children

[coleslaw]

My 9yo dd has always been on the anxious side, but the past few years has been riddled with nightmares and sleeplessness, on her part, and therefore, on our part. From a natural standpoint, what can I do to help her? Like auromathereapy, ideas on chiropractic work, etc. anything like that. We've done the therapist route and it didn't work. We didn't pick the right therapist, unfortunately and may go down that route again in the future, but for now, we are looking at other options. Thanks for any info you can give.

[jessafina]

Originally Posted by coleslaw

My 9yo dd has always been on the anxious side, but the past few years has been riddled with nightmares and sleeplessness, on her part, and therefore, on our part. From a natural standpoint, what can I do to help her? Like auromathereapy, ideas on chiropractic work, etc. anything like that. We've done the therapist route and it didn't work. We didn't pick the right therapist, unfortunately and may go down that route again in the future, but for now, we are looking at other options. Thanks for any info you can give.

I had major anxiety as a child, starting at about 6 or 7 old. I could go on forever about the different ways it manifested, but one of the major ones was sleep anxiety. Major. I never went to therapy and never took medication and really didn't talk about it much with my parents or anyone else. Maybe I thought it was normal... or maybe I knew it wasn't normal and was afraid of delving into it. Either way, at one point I brought it up with my dad (who is a yoga instructor) and he gave me some basic breathing excercise which were and are incredibly helpful. For instance if your dd is feeling anxious, breathing in for an 8 count... hold for 4... breath out for 8. Really concentrate on the counting and on breathing slowly. It's hard to concentrate on anything else and it's very centering.
I know it's not a fix, but it's a really good and comforting tool to have in the backpocket.
Not sure if that's helpful, but again... I had major anxiety (and OCD) as a kid (now it's more mild, but still hangs around) and I had to at least tell you that I feel for you and your dd. It makes my palms sweat just thinking about all of the anxiety issues I had as a child and I wish no child ever had to feel any of those feelings.
Another helpful thing might be Bach Flower Rescue Remedy. You can buy it in an easy spray and I (and many other people) have had really good results in general. You could tell her that she can spray it whenever she feels nervous and that it will help her not feel that way. You can't overdoes with it, so she could keep it with her all the time and it might be comforting.

[coleslaw]

Thank you so much for your reply. It's good to hear that you have been able to get some control over the issues you had as a kid. She's not a very centered girl and she tried breathing, but on her own. Maybe I will sit with her next time. She's trying ot sleep in her own room, but hasn't actually fallen asleep there in awhile. She sleeps fine enough when she sleeps in the room with me, but I just can't have her there for much longer -I won't bore you with those details. Thanks again and we will try what you recommend.

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by coleslaw

My 9yo dd has always been on the anxious side, but the past few years has been riddled with nightmares and sleeplessness, on her part, and therefore, on our part. From a natural standpoint, what can I do to help her? Like auromathereapy, ideas on chiropractic work, etc. anything like that. We've done the therapist route and it didn't work. We didn't pick the right therapist, unfortunately and may go down that route again in the future, but for now, we are looking at other options. Thanks for any info you can give.

Flower essences can be very beneficial for reducing anxiety and sleep issues; I mean more than just Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a rather generic combination.

[proudmamanow]

Our dd has had issues with anxiety, and our naturopath recommended a magnesium supplement called Natural Calm. It has helped her a lot, and we are also following recommendations in the book 'Freeing Your Child from Anxiety"

[Peony]

I have a 7 year old that is very similar. She has had severe day time anxiety in the past but the last year or so, it is mostly at night. She went through a horrid insomnia phase for 6 months and now will sleep but only if she is in bed with a parent. Other wise it is nightmares, and constant night wakings. She still wakes up with me in the bed, but is able to go right back to sleep, when she isn't directly in bed with me, then she gets too upset and has issues going back to sleep. Therapy has never worked for her as well. We've done chiro, and all sorts of other things, the only thing that did improve the anxiety was when she was doing intensive OT when she was 5 for her SPD. I do talk to her about deep breathing, we talk through her fears, but this seems to be a constantly changing process, what works this week, doesn't always work next.