Five Ways to Help Regulate Your Anxious or Sensory Overwhelmed Child When Out and About
Have you ever been out in public when your child becomes overwhelmed, has a melt down or becomes so anxious you have to leave a situation? Try some of these strategies.
1. Deep pressure – provides fast, rich sensory input through our tactile and proprioceptive senses to help dampen / inhibit the responses of the nervous system. Consequently it can help your child to calm, and become less overwhelmed by sensory and/or environmental stressors.
When holding hands, vary the tightness / pressure through the hand by giving a tight squeeze, followed by a looser grip, followed by tight squeeze…, this can be a useful way of providing some deep pressure through the hands whilst walking.
Give tight squeezes / big bear hugs whilst standing still.
Give deep pressure through the head and neck by either gently pushing down on your child’s head / neck, or encouraging your child to clasp their own hands over their head and pull down, or behind their neck and push their head into their hands for a nice neck stretch.
2. Exercise – When needing an extra boost of sensory input to regulate themselves, encourage your child to exercise on the spot, or within the space immediately available to you. Some children might benefit from you joining in and making it into a game.
Try jumping, running or hopping on the spot. Star jumps and spotty dogs can also be a fun exercise to distract or regulate your child whilst having to wait in queues.
Adding exercise into your child’s day at regular points is a really beneficial way of helping to manage their sensory needs and/or anxiety so should be worked into their day where ever possible E.g. getting to school, walking to a group /activity, or nipping to the shop. Or even just going out for a quick scoot / bike around the block after a tricky day at school.
This will boost the sensory input through both their inner ear (vestibular system) and their body awareness (proprioceptive system) which can both be useful in calming / regulating an over stimulated sensory system.
3. Push / Pull Exercise – Great for those opportunities when stuck in a queue, or needing a quick / immediate boost to regulate/ calm an overwhelmed child.
Encourage him/ her to push and/ or pull against your hands, or push against a wall.
If sitting, get them to try to lift their bottoms off the chair whilst holding their weight through their hands, positioned either side of the bottom.
For younger children get them to wrap their legs around your waist while you tip them upside down by holding onto their hands (thereby creating a pull sensation through their arms) and lowering them until they are upside down with their legs still wrapped around your waist). This quick and easy exercise provides rich input through the proprioceptive system, sending calming messages to the brain.
4. Carry crunchy, chewy or suck-able snacks for a quick oral boost of sensory goodness.
Crunchy, chewy or suck-able snacks provide a heavy muscle workout for the jaw. This can be useful when travelling in the car with an anxious and/or overwhelmed child, or when out and about and needing a sensory boost to help calm/ regulate their nervous system. Obviously the healthier the snack the better but if all you have is some chewing gum (for older children), a chewy lolly or a sweet, that works well too.
By working the muscles in the mouth and jaw, calming signals are released and sent (fast track) to the brain which help to over-ride other feelings of distress. Ever wondered why your anxious child chews on their nails, clothes, toys etc??? it’s because it helps to regulate their sensory system and feels good.
5. Weight – Give your child the rucksack, shopping bags or anything a bit weighty to carry.
Rucksacks are a great way to carry a supply of sensory ‘safe’ foods, drinks or favourite toys when out and about. Don’t be afraid to add an extra bottle of water or two to provide some additional weight through the shoulders for your child whilst carrying the bag.
Weight provides increased proprioceptive input which helps to calm and regulate your child’s sensory system. This can be especially useful when going somewhere that provokes anxiety in your child such as school, shops or new / sensory rich environments.
I hope this has been useful :)