Said It Here

How to handle toddler grief and behavioral outbursts after a loss

Toddlers respond to sudden loss with severe behavioral regression like sleep disruptions, refusal to eat solid food, and intense crying spells calling for the lost parent. Managing these constant outbursts while dealing with your own raw grief leaves you feeling emotionally frayed and overwhelmed with no time to process your loss.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    taking help from family and friends for errands, cooking, and cleaning
  2. 2
    co-sleeping or contact naps for comfort
  3. 3
    reading books about grief and emotions with the child
  4. 4
    using special routines or visual comfort items like a Build-A-Bear with a recorded voice
  5. 5
    seeking individual and family therapy
  6. 6
    Using calm honesty to explain the body stopped working
  7. 7
    Involving children in the euthanasia process and burial
  8. 8
    Reading children's books about grief and saying goodbye
  9. 9
    Using framing about heaven, the rainbow bridge, or resting without pain

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“My 25 month old has seemingly regressed in sleep and eat. At every discomfort he cries (wailing) for daddy even going so far as to hit himself or throw his head onto the floor.”source ↗

“I guess I’m just looking for any advice on how to handle the outbursts of grief from him.”source ↗

“Toddler went from eating great to only wanting bottles or milk, sleeping great to crying out for daddy for 30+ mins at nap time and waking multiple times a night.”source ↗

lunalive113 · r/Parenting · 2,310 upvotes

“I’m an emotional wreck and the kids are piling on”source ↗

“I’m trying to validated be patient, comfort them…but inside I am on the constant brink of tears over what I’m experiencing.”source ↗

“I feel like a live wire and every shriek, whine, or complaint is frying me.”source ↗

“I just need time to process what’s happening but they are constantly glued to me.”source ↗

“I’m just raw right now.”source ↗

HarryBallsbald · r/Parenting · 20 upvotes

“We are still trying dealing with the grief ourselves, but I’m not sure how to go about explaining death to our son.”source ↗

“I’m absolutely dreading this talk especially when me and my wife are still going through it ourselves, but I know it's a talk that I have to have with him.”source ↗

“I’m just curious as to how you guys explain the concept of death especially this being my son’s first time dealing with something like this and how you helped your kids go through this.”source ↗

Erich14 · r/Parenting · 8 upvotes

Where this came up

r/Parentingbereavementchild psychologygriefparentingpet losstoddler behavior

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