My daughter is a lovely and sensitive soul. If you also have a preschooler who is easily over-stimulated and sensitive to her physical and emotional environment, here are some ways that we’ve worked to make life good for all members of our household.
Have a designated talking time, a quiet time when you are not distracted by anything else and can focus completely on your child. For us, this is right before bedtime. Sometimes it’s in the car, too. Having that focused, quiet snuggle time is essential for her and for me, if I want to stay in tune with the things that she is concerned and excited about.
We work to create steady home routines. For an on-the-fly person like me, it can be hard to develop a consistent and gentle routine. However, I find that such a routine really helps maintain stability in my daughter’s life.
Have a quiet wake up time. Our daughter has a hard time transitioning from sleep to waking. We snuggle for a minute or two, I open the windows, we get dressed, and then we go downstairs. She snuggles on the couch while I make breakfast. By that time, we’re both able to chat a lot more about the day.
Give warnings about coming events, but don’t dwell on your concerns. While it’s good to keep her aware of what’s going to happen tomorrow so that it is not a surprise, it’s not so good to transmit my concerns about the event. I try to state what’s happening but not over prepare her.
Try not to be overly emotional. As a bit of a drama queen, I know that it can be difficult not to overdo it when I’m upset. However, when I exude a lot of emotion about an issue, my daughter picks up on it. The next thing I know, she’s refusing to do the class in question or getting scared about the issue I was irritated by.
Do you have a sensitive preschooler? How do you parent yours?