St Giles Hospice Lichfield (Whittingham)

How Children and Young People Grieve Adults can be very concerned about the impact of bereavement on a child in the family.

Grief is a normal, natural and healthy response to loss for people of all ages and cultures, as we seek to make sense of what has happened, what this means to us and how we are feeling.

Like adults, children and young people will vary greatly in the ways they experience and express their grief. Every family and each individual member will grieve in their own unique way.

Keeping the lines of communication open with your children – to enable them to explore their feelings – can help alleviate any anxieties.

How to respond Our experience and feedback from children and young people suggests that the following ways of responding can be helpful to them: • It is OK for you and your children to feel sad, angry, confused, empty, guilty, anxious and many other emotions – and it’s OK if you don’t. But be ready to share feelings with your children. Trying to hide them can cause a child to feel confused and isolated.

• Be ready to listen. Children can suffer irrational fears and guilt, believing that they have done something to cause the death.

• Be ready to acknowledge what is being said without giving advice.

• Be ready to explain and answer questions honestly and clearly.

You may have to do this over and over again, if necessary, in words suitable for the child’s age.

• Be prepared to admit you don’t know all the answers.

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