Coping with My Child's Anxiety

I am a pretty organized person when it comes to being prepared, but this time I admit.............I failed.  We were leaving to attend a wedding in Tennessee in one day, and I had a child on my hands who was experiencing great anxiety about the trip. 

Frankly, my daughter likes to sleep in her own bed.  Not a bed in a hotel....not a bed at Grandma and Grandpa's house.....her bed.  Period.  She is even a bit apprehensive spending the night at friend's houses now even though they tend to stay up all night.  It has been the past couple years that we have been experiencing this type of anxiety.  We used to go on many trips to the lake, with no problems whatsoever.  Now, we hardly go on trips because we know there will be alot of crying and sadness in her heart.  We had an instance when she was supposed to spend the night at my husband's parents house, only to have her grandma return with her, suitcase in hand, by the end of the evening......because my daughter began crying and wanted to go home.  And bless her heart, Grandma tried everything to convince her to stay! 

Truthfully, my husband nor I understand why she would be feeling this way, but I compare it to a child being afraid of thunderstorms, or dogs, or anything else for that matter.  I reminded him that he was deathly afraid of thunderstorms when he was a child; to the point of his father having to come pick him up from school because he was so upset.  There is no explanation for the feeling of fear, and it only rears it's ugly head when the situation is there.  If it was a feeling that effected my child's functioning on a day to day basis, I would be consulting our pediatrician for guidance. 

So, here I was thinking  (one day BEFORE the trip mind you) that we had to do something to help her.  I called my friend, Lori, who uses alot of alternative remedies for her children.  She said she  uses Native Remedies Triple Complex Calm Tonic for herself,  but wasn't sure if it was safe for children.  So she suggested Bach's Rescue Remedy.  And ironically, Dr. Oz mentioned the Bach's Rescue Remedy on his show this week for anxiety because his family uses it. I normally order all my health products online, but I didn't have that kind of time, so I called our local health food store to check to see if they had it in stock.......and they did.

I decided to purchase the kid's formula because it did not contain alcohol (thank you Lori for mentioning to me to look for this).  When I got home from the store, I explained to my daughter that we were taking this with us on our trip, and if she felt that feeling she gets that makes her start to cry and want to go home, to let me know.  I was a bit afraid that she would ask for it when she really didn't need it, but upon the first dose, she said it tasted a bit like cough medicine so I knew she wouldn't just say she was feeling sad just to get the medicine.

Within the first few hours of the road trip, we stopped for a bite to eat, and we were faced with her first crying spell. She felt nauseous, wouldn't eat, and said she wanted to go home.  I suggested she take the drops, and she said okay.  I then suggested she get something in her tummy, and she did.  Within about an hour, she said "I feel so much better.  I think those drops are working." Not sure if it was a placebo effect, but I'll take it.  The trip to the hotel after that was uneventful.  We ended up using the drops a few times on our two day trip when her sadness was becoming to much for her to handle, and it seemed to do the trick in curbing her anxiety.   

I admit...our family's lifestyle has changed to a healthier lifestyle in terms of the food we eat and the cleaners we use;  I have even dabbled in natural remedies with positive results and began seeing a holistic doctor, but we hadn't jumped in feet first in terms of exclusively using homeopathic remedies to treat all common ailments. My children hardly get sick, have no allergies that warrant OTC medication for relief, so they rarely are given any medication anyway; this kind of change has been on the backburner for some time.  We have been using Montana Arnica as a pain reliever for my daughter's braces after my daughter experienced a  horrendous side effect from Children's Tylenol (that is another story in itself).  After these two episodes in a year span, I have truly become serious in preparing a homeopathic first aid kit so I am prepared with what lies ahead.  

And, we are planning a lake trip in a few weeks, so you better believe this little bottle will be packed in the suitcase........just in case.