Is Your Child Stressed?

I am constantly looking for signs of stress in my daughter. I didn't know exactly what to look for, though, especially since she is only two. Ana Mantica, from Prevention Magazine, lists several "stress signals"...

"For Preschoolers and Elementary Schoolers:

• Sudden or extreme shyness
• Excessive irritability
• Bedwetting after months or years of dry nights

For Teens:

• Frequent headaches
• Stomachaches
• Trouble handling anger" (Mantica, 2004).

I also found some other signs of stress in children from the Soul Curry Magazine. This magazine listed the following signs:

• "Gloominess
• Bed Wetting
• Stubbornness
• Upset Stomach
• Quietness
• Loss of Appetite
• Irritability
• Nightmares
• Clingingness
• Unwillingness to do anything" (Soul Curry, 2007).

After reading these signs of stress, I realized that my daughter has been showing a couple of them. The ones she's been experiencing are stubbornness, loss of appetite, irritability, nightmares, and clingingness. I realize that these symptoms can be caused by other aspects in my daughter's life, such as entering the "terrible twos", but it does make me wonder if the symptoms are a result of my daughter being stressed.

Sources

Depressionblog. (2007, Nov 14). Childhood depression to become an epidemic if unchecked. The
Instablogs Network. Retrieved 03/12/08 from http://www.depressionblog.org/.

Mantica, Ana. (2004). Stress Relief for Kids--And You. Lite Books. Retrieved 03/12/08 from
http://www.litebooks.net/articles/stress_relief_for_kids_and_you.htm.

Soul Curry. (2007, July 1). Be a Stress Buster for Your Child. Soul Curry Inc. Retrieved
03/12/08 from http://soulcurrymagazine.com/sc/be-a-stress-buster-for-your-child.html.