How to Identify Emotions in Kids After Losing a Pet

Losing a pet can be a traumatic and life-changing experience. When you have young children in your family, losing the family pet can be especially damaging. One of the toughest situations to deal with post-death is identifying emotions in your children. They may be sad or outwardly happy, but there are a few ways to pick up signals from body language and behavior patterns.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A child
• A deceased pet
• Intuition
• Solid advice
• Kindness

1. Talk with your child. Let them know that life and death are a natural cycle that they cannot personally control. Your pet moved on to a better place and cannot be brought back. Let your child know that it is not their fault . Talking with your child after the death of their pet can really impact their psyche in a positive manner.
2. Pay attention to your little tike after Fluffy's death. A dead giveaway in behavior is a sudden change. A normally calm child may throw temper tantrums. A loud, outgoing child may end up sullen and moody. These are signs your child has upsetting emotions attached to their pet's death.
3. Pay attention to body language. You may notice your child shedding a tear here and there, or may notice them becoming volatile and moody. They may fight with their siblings more. You can tell alot by your child's actions.
4. Talk with your child's babysitter, school teacher, or parents of their friends. Find out how your child is behaving when they're not at home. You may be able to pick up on negative emotions by speaking with individuals in their life.
5. You may notice your child has abnormal eating patterns. They may avoid the dinner table, eat obsessively, or stop eating altogether. This is a sure sign your child is facing raging emotions.
6. Ask them outright how they feel. Tell them you really want to get inside their head and ask them routinely for their true feelings.

Tips & Warnings

• Never push your child to change their behavior or emotions. Grief over a pet's death can take time to run its course.
• Avoid buying a new pet to replace the old.