What helped your child's anxiety?

[ThisisanArtAttackx]

Has anyone found an over the counter remedy which really helped your child's anxiety?

I don't want to go down the prescription route unless I absolutely have to and am obviously trying every talk technique/ mindfulness/ therapy strategy in the book! (Although I am open to new ideas...)

Never tried anything like that.
To some extent it will depend where the anxiety is coming from.
Are they ND?
Being anxious about certain things is not that unusual or uncommon for children - they get a better understanding of risk/consequences as they get older - having a supportive parent helps obviously. But you can't always make it go away altogether. But you can teach them strategies to manage the thing that makes them anxious.

It's awful watching your child struggle with anxiety and feeling like you've tried everything.
I've never found a miracle over-the-counter remedy, if I'm honest. Some parents swear by things like magnesium, but the results seem very mixed and what helps one child doesn't necessarily help another.
For us, the biggest difference came from working on the underlying anxiety rather than any supplement, lots of reassurance, keeping routines predictable, making sure they were getting enough sleep, and gradually building confidence in situations they found difficult.
How old is your child? You might get more helpful suggestions if people know a bit more about what's driving the anxiety, as school anxiety, social anxiety or general worries.

I can’t suggest any meds , but hypnotherapy worked well for my son .

My kid responded hugely to lots of exercise and lots of outside time. He also started taking multivitamins and a fish oil supplement. Its all made a HUGE difference. And we became militant about prioritising sleep, one of us actually went back to being there as he fell asleep just to make sure he was getting 9 solid hours every night.

My DD finds Bach Rescue drops helpful. It may well be a placebo/complete nonsense but I think actually taking something puts her mind at rest.

I don't think this is a wise route to take with a child.

Get proper help from the GP if your self-help isn't working. How old is your child? Medication is not the usual first step with a child - have you had CAMHS involvement?

Have you reviewed diet, sleep, exercise, activities? Don't do anything drastic without medical advice but healthy lifestyles do help.

I found knowing what was going to happen helped with anxiety. We tend to make decisions and do them (like we decide trip to park, then quick stop at supermarket the home for lunch) and just take the kids without explaining- you might say ‘let’s go to the park’ but leave the rest out). So kid has the next hour worked out in their head but suddenly they are at a big busy supermarket and getting anxious and hungry and have no idea how long or when they’ll eat and oh my god that’s Jimmy from class C who took my sandwich last week and why is mum taking so long chatting to that woman and I need to pee….
Listening seems key. They may say ‘mum can we go’ three times and you say ‘just after we do this’ but what they are telling you is they are in distress. Explaining the day and checking in they are ok with plan ABC. Taking things slow and measured.

How old and how anxious?

My son is 6, turns 7 in December. He's autistic and anxiety is a massive thing for him, but he's come on so much the last year or so, it's amazing, although he still has his struggles which we're supporting him with.

I'd say the biggest ones for us are -

A rock solid routine, especially in the morning and at night.

Lots of time doing things he enjoys in a no pressure environment (ie park trips and Lego over groups/clubs)

Books about feelings and us telling him about our days, casually including when we've been worried or frustrated or whatever and what helped us feel better, without it being a big deal

Having "tools" he can use - a pack of calming things (photos, squidgy toys) a comfy space he can go to (his bedroom) breathing exercises/yoga that we practice together.

Just him knowing we're there and we get it. Encouraging him to try things, but not forcing or getting angry if he's finding it tough.