When your child is crying and won’t or can’t tell you what is wrong, it is very frustrating.\u00a0Meltdowns can be difficult for even the most experienced parents to handle. When it happens, your automatic reaction might be to tell your child to stop crying. Unfortunately, that rarely works so you might want to consider these factors.<\/p>\n
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Crying is a natural reaction for kids<\/a> when they are over-stimulated, over tired, or physically hurt. Figuring out which it is and meeting their needs can help you get to the root of the problem. The next time you are faced with an outburst, take a deep breath and ask yourself these 4 simple questions before reacting.<\/p>\n Is it something physical? <\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps your child refuses to put on his shoes and bursts into tears when you stand firm. Is this a battle of wills\u00a0 or could it be that they are dealing with physical pain they may not be able to express? The frustration of not being able to articulate what is going on, can trigger an epic meltdown.<\/p>\n Take a look at their physical condition. Could it be a toothache? According to Lane Family Dental<\/a>, “Your tooth may not bother you at all until that moment you bite into a decadent slice of chocolate cake. The shock from coming in contact with sugar is a pretty sure sign that your tooth has a cavity.”<\/p>\n Or could it be a headache? Mayo Clinic states that headaches in children can be difficult to diagnose<\/a>, but they may cry and hold their head to indicate pain. Lastly, it may be the most\u00a0common physical reason of them all: your child may just need a nap.<\/p>\n Is your child feeling stressed? <\/strong><\/p>\n This one is more common among older children. You may wonder what could cause a child to be stressed. Actually, any situation that is new to a child can cause their body to release the stress hormone, cortisol.<\/p>\n Dealing with after school activities where a certain level of performance is expected, can add stress to an already-full school day. Tears could also result from a frustrating classroom situation. It could even be\u00a0 something they have heard that they don’t know how to handle. Consider that their tears may not really be about having to clean their room or do a chore. In reality that outburst may be an expression of accumulated stress<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Is your child hungry? <\/strong><\/p>\n It happens to everyone. So much so that a new term has cropped up to describe it; Hungry + angry = \u201changry.\u201d Hangry describes how attitudes go south when our bodies are lacking fuel. Even if your child ate a good lunch, by the time they get home from school, they could be famished. If they don’t have a healthy snack, they could be heading for an emotional outburst. So, while you do not want to use food as a bribe to stop their tears, their hunger is likely what is causing them to be so cranky.<\/p>\n