Helping a child through grief - advice please

[Alllovedisney]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to get back but i did read all the replies a few days ago.

I will as advised keep an eye on her. I will investigate the resources you have kindly shared and keep a close eye on her. I will also see if she’d like the opportunity to speak to someone who isn’t me or DH. I mean, she may not even though those resources for this exist?

I was devastated to read the stories you all have. It shows how precious life is and how tomorrow is not promised.

Alibeau my heart breaks for you. Thank you for taking the time to reply.


xx

[Taffy1959]

Our daughter had a stillbirth in 2013 and it badly affected our grandson who was coming up to 5.
They were referred to a children’s hospice for counselling for him and they were amazing with him.
They also told my daughter they never close the book on a grieving child and they could return at any time if he needed any more help.

[natanddaz]

I can only give my thoughts as someone who lost their brother at 16. Chilhood grief is extremely complicated. I found i didnt want to talk to people as a) i either didnt want to make them upset or b) i didnt think i was worthy of their support as i had 'only' lost my brother my parents had lost a son and i knew that must be much worse. As a consequence i bottled alot up. My mum saw it happening and got me into counselling but by that time id already built a wall as if to protect myself although the sessions were helpful after a short time i said i no longer needed to go as i was running out of things to say. I felt numb. Roll on 15 years and my mum gets diagnosed with cancer and something at work goes wrong and i find myself back in counselling through occy health. I end up staying in counselling for over 2 years and my mum passes during that time. My cousellor was amazing and unpicked everything. I was incredibly close to my mum she was my rock and i miss her so so much but losing my brother was and is still the deepest cut i carry. Its hard to explain but that grief is so much different so much more raw and i truly think its because of how old i was when we lost him. Obviously your daughter is younger then i was and a friend is probably not as close as a sibling but i suppose what im trying to say is yes let her guide you but you may need to actually break down her wall a bit to let you in. Thinking of you all ❤️

[Doc88]

My dd lost her best friend suddenly at the age of 8. Our school was fantastic, brought in councillors for the children to have one to one sessions with. This really helped my daughter. I was also very concerned for her as this was her first major loss. It wasn’t until last year she felt ready to speak to me about how she felt at the time. It’s been 4.5 years now and she still gets days where she gets upset, birthdays, certain milestones like junior prom, first day of comprehensive was especially upsetting for her. It’s so tough, I really feel for you and sorry your dd is going through this.