Questions tagged [death]
Questions dealing with death, whether it be a specific person or pet, or a general discussion of how to broach this difficult subject with children.
34
questions
31
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Telling a child about a playmate's death
My grandson is 4 1/2. My family attends a small church so all the families are fairly close to each other. This weekend, one family lost their 8 year old son in a drowning accident. My daughter ...
- 451
2
votes
1
answer
336
views
Our hamster died, and witnessed by our child. How to communicate with/support her?
We kept a hamster in our house and my daughter liked it. She was very gentle when holding it. She had a really happy time with the hamster. But this week the hamster died when she was playing with it.
...
- 21
4
votes
3
answers
401
views
How to explain pet's death to a three year old?
In the last six months my daughter (she'll turn three in November) really got into playing with her grandparents' dog; they live in a different town so we visit them occasionally, and while I don't ...
3
votes
5
answers
478
views
How can 17 year old daughter overcome her fear of both parents dying?
Ever since kindergarten, my 17 year old high school daughter cries at least once a week from her fear that her older than average parents will die too early — my husband and I were around 50 when ...
user41911
10
votes
3
answers
657
views
Preparing a 3-year old for the death of a sibling
We've got two daughters, aged 2 and 3. Our youngest has been battling with cancer for the past year and we've recently discovered that she has relapsed. At the moment we are still waiting for staging ...
- 201
5
votes
2
answers
365
views
How to talk about a historic suicide in the family to young kids?
My brother took his own life in 2000 at age 23. My kids - 10-year-old girl, 8-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl - know that I had a brother and that he died, but I have not told them anything more than ...
3
votes
2
answers
461
views
5 Year Old - Separation Anxiety and Preparing for a Death in the Family
My 5 year old son recently started school and, his separation anxiety pre-dates school, but it has really highlighted to me just how bad it is. He gets upset when he gets dropped off at school, when ...
- 143
4
votes
2
answers
472
views
How to instill sensitivity in kids?
I am new to the site and don't know if this question exactly falls into the domain of this site.
We have a group of volunteers in our university who go to a school in a nearby village to teach. Some ...
- 141
1
vote
1
answer
596
views
Should I tell my son about his biological father?
I am a mother of 5 children, in the order of a boy (10), 3 girls(7,5,3), and a baby boy just born a few months ago.
I met my husband 10 years ago, 7 months before my first boy was born. Before that, ...
- 19
77
votes
18
answers
30k
views
Lying to my daughter about her mother's death
My 10-year-old daughter's mother died last week. She was a masochist and suffered from depression and childhood issues. She, from what I understand, hung herself in her closet from a belt. I'm not ...
- 1,388
1
vote
1
answer
381
views
Delegating godfather responsibilities to atheist brother [closed]
I have two siblings: a younger brother "Todd", and an older brother "Jack". Todd is a single father of three (realtor; lives in Canada; wife left for Europe and hasn't been in the family's life for 5 ...
- 27
5
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Family wants my 2.5 year old daugter to visit my declining grandmother
My grandmother is currently sick and at hospital. Basically, she has Alzheimer's disease and she has not much time left. The last time I saw her, a few weeks ago, she was very thin and not able to ...
- 161
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
4-year old unconcerned about pending death of pet
We learned recently from the vet that our dog has cancer and probably only has a few months left (he's old, don't feel too bad).
My 4-year old daughter reacted to this by saying "good, this means I'...
- 312
7
votes
2
answers
310
views
How do you help a primary schooler who is struggling after a death in the family?
My mother-in-law recently passed away.
It was rather sudden; the funeral was less than 2 weeks after she first went to the hospital, and it was several days in the hospital before we realized the ...
user420
5
votes
7
answers
3k
views
My child is afraid of death
My daughter is 13, and terrified of death. I'm Christian, and I believe there is a heaven, but she isn't religious- according to her, she's tried, but can't make herself Believe in anything. At first, ...
- 51
7
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How to explain the "brutal" ways of wildlife and nature to a kid and when?
I would like to expose my kid to a lot of different animals quite early on (starting from 2-3 years), mostly through telling them about it and showing photos/pictures. Even though screen would be ...
- 3,431
9
votes
5
answers
1k
views
How to address with a child that a deceased actress appears in an upcoming movie?
My 7-year-old daughter is a big Star Wars fan and has loved Princess Leia through all of the movies she has appeared in.
In discussing it with her, she already knows that the woman who played ...
- 907
85
votes
17
answers
28k
views
At what age should I tell my daughter that her real mother is dead?
Long story short: my first wife passed away while giving birth to my daughter. Two years later, I've remarried, but I am concerned over when should I tell my daughter the truth about her mother.
My ...
- 959
13
votes
1
answer
671
views
How to prepare children for impending death of a parent?
My mother is expected to die within coming days/weaks/months (final phase of cancer).
I have an 11 year old sister - how can I help her? What would be a good idea to suggest to my father and older ...
2
votes
3
answers
480
views
What to say to a child whose pet just died
My 24-year-old daughter's cat just died.
I've never met her cat, and I am currently only in contact with her over Facebook. I also don't know her address so I can't send her anything.
It really has ...
- 141
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Take a 3 year old to funeral?
Would you take a 3 and a half year old girl to the funeral of her great-granddad?
She knows about death and heaven...
Death belongs to life, right?
On the other hand, I don't want to overstrain ...
- 268
9
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How to (or should I even try to) break a zombie fixation for a three-year-old
I have two boys, one eleven, and one three. I don't know exactly how or when, but the 11-year-old has decided that it was a good idea to explain the the 3-year-old all about zombies. Of course he ...
- 1,161
23
votes
8
answers
26k
views
What to do when a 6-year-old expresses suicidal thoughts?
A mom at my daughter's school told me that her son told her that my 6-year-old daughter told him that she doesn't like herself and wants to kill herself.
I'm really not sure how to approach this with ...
- 333
3
votes
1
answer
249
views
How to talk to parents about death?
My parents have always tried to shelter me from trauma (divorces, illnesses and deaths in the family, and so on) which makes it difficult to broach the subject of death with them. This is more of an ...
- 456
16
votes
5
answers
10k
views
How and when to disclose to children a parent's suicide?
My children's father committed suicide 10 years ago, when they were aged 9, 3 and 1.
At the time of his death I did not want them to know how he died, but it became such public knowledge I was forced ...
user21179
22
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How to help children cope with a parent's suicide?
I've asked another question here:
How to handle disclosing a parent's suicide to friends and their parents
I've noticed that this question here:
What are some strategies for helping children ...
user21179
33
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How to handle disclosing a parent's suicide to friends and their parents
I have three children 12, 13 and 19 and their father committed suicide 10 years ago (when they were 1, 3 and 9).
They have suffered through many childhood taunts, at times, including:
"Your father ...
user21179
3
votes
2
answers
423
views
How to talk to my 4.5-year-old daughter about death? [duplicate]
My 95-year-old grandmother is about to pass away and I want to prepare my 4.5-year-old daughter who was supposed to visit her soon. Even though she lives far away, my daughter has visited her several ...
- 921
5
votes
3
answers
322
views
What qualities should be looked in a bedding for an infant to prevent the crib deaths?
What qualities should be looked in a bedding for an infant to prevent the crib deaths?
Does sealing the bedding with a strong polythene sheet provide any benefits or risks?
- 6,354
42
votes
4
answers
5k
views
How to prepare children for impending death of a parent?
My wife has been told that she has a limited amount of time left due to an illness, the average life expectancy is 7-8 years after onset, of which we have used up 7. With excellent management, and ...
- 421
26
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How do I explain to a 4 year old that our family pet is sick and needs to be put down?
My son loves our 9 year old cat very much. The cat was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer a couple of months ago, and has reached the point where we will soon need to make arrangements to put the ...
- 707
7
votes
4
answers
3k
views
My 4.5yr-old girl is afraid of death. What should I do?
Last night my wife (as usual) was putting our 4.5yr-old baby girl to sleep. Our daughter becomes very chatty at that time and (especially in the presence of mom) expresses thoughts and things that ...
- 567
9
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How do you explain terrorist extremism to children?
I have an 8, 6 and 4 year old. While eating dinner, we watched Obama's announcement on Bin Laden.
With hindsight, it would have been easier to keep the TV off, but I thought it was a good idea at ...
- 193
29
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How should I talk to my child about death?
How should I explain death to a child under 5-6 years old if a close family member or friend dies?
- 8,541