How to explain death to a 2 year old?

[Tigerwhocamefortea]

We lost a pet a few weeks ago and our toddler still doesn’t understand what’s happened. I’ve tried explaining in any way I know how but he still comes downstairs every morning and asks where pet is. He will ask numerous times a day for him and wants to know where he is. I’ve told him that he died, I’ve explained that when you die your body gets buried but your “person” goes to heaven/live in the sky/ become a star etc. He isn’t buying it and wants to know where pet is!

Pet is finished now. We used him all up. See the yogurt? Mmmm, all gone now. Say bye bye pet. Bye bye yoghurt. All gone!

Also he may be in denial, just because he’s younger doesn’t mean grief doesn’t work for him too.

What did you do with the dead animal? Could you have a funeral where you explain it's in a box that they then see buried or covered with a curtain, like a human funeral?

My toddler attended both of my grandparents' funerals with me last year. I explained the body was in a box and we could now only see them in pictures and memories. When the curtain closed around the coffin, she waved and said "goodbye great grandma/grandad". She seems to understand she will never see them again.

Not helpful but my gran died last year when my niece was two - she is happy to tell just about anyone she meets that grandad's mummy is dead. Loudly. And enthusiastically. It's impossible to not laugh, my poor old dad

Poor you though, hopefully he'll get it or move on soon.

We told my toddler our relative had gone to live on a star and that we wouldn’t be seeing them again but we could wave at the stars when we missed them. It worked reasonably well without any need for religion or complex understanding of mortality

Are you religious?

Heaven can be a very confusing concept for small children. People who go somewhere come back.

We've said X is dead. Dead means gone. They aren't coming back.

We used short sentences and just repeated when necessary.

I don't know, I tried to explain a pets death to my 2 year old a few weeks ago. I may as well have explained said pets alien abduction as the 2 year old didn't listen to a word and seems completely unbothered by the fact that the pet is gone he was very fond of that bunny and loved picking weeds to give to him but could not care less about bunny not being here any more. He still points at empty run and says bunny a fair bit but in the same way he points out tractors on the road or sheep in the fields.

Dreading trying to explain it when our dog dies though and she is getting on a bit now

My 2 year old watched ‘Up’ a few times and understood that the wife had died and therefore didn’t come home.

Thanks everyone. I think I need to emphasise the “gone” part with him. But he wants to know where he has gone which is harder to explain.

I’ve said he has died and told him and told him that means we won’t get to see him anymore. I think DS thinks he has gone to live somewhere else and keeps saying “let’s go and fetch pet home”.

Try reading him Goodbye Mog.