12-23-08

Helping Kids Get Through The Holidays

All the excitement and interruption of a child’s routine during the holidays can bring added stress for children and sometimes cause behavioral problems.

The holidays are thought of as a magical time of year, but stress and pressure from extra activities, shopping and high expectations can impact interactions between a parent and child.  Glen Aylward, professor of pediatrics at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, says in some cases, the holidays can cause behavior problems in children.

SOUND BITE: “Children can sometimes have difficulty dealing with the changes due to Christmas time or any other holiday. However the younger the child, the more naïve they are in terms of a lot of other issues that may be having some impact on the holidays.  Children are going to react to the holidays just as their parents would react to holidays.”

Aylward encourages parents to make the holidays more fun and less stressful, which will make their children’s behaviors more acceptable.  He suggests that parents take steps to reduce the stress in their own lives as well as the lives of their children.

SOUND BITE: “. . .  reducing financial pressures, reducing time pressures, being realistic in terms of expectations of the holidays, realizing that you are going to have to deal with some issues that you are not going to want to deal with such as family and so on.  I think if you kind of anticipate, be realistic, and reduce these kinds of extraordinary types of pressures, the children will do better.”

Aylward says children actually remember things that happen around Christmas such family traditions like reading “The Night before Christmas” and community activities.  If a child’s behavior becomes more disruptive or doesn’t return to normal soon after the holidays, the child may need to see his or her doctor or children’s counselor.

This is Ruth Slottag at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.