- What's happening
- Anxious thoughts the brain is practising.
- What helps
- Listen fully, name and externalise, worry time, move the body.
- When to get help
- If worries dominate daily life or stop sleep, food, school.
- One tiny next step
- Tonight, ask 'what's on your worry list?' and just listen.
What's going on?
Worries are everyday anxious thoughts — about friends, about parents going to work, about something they saw on the news, about whether they're loved. They are how a developing brain practises 'what if' thinking.
Most childhood worries are short-lived and respond to being heard. They become harder when they stack up, repeat, or stop a child sleeping or going places.
Common signs and symptoms
Very common
- Bringing up the same worry at bedtime.
- Asking 'are you okay?' or 'will you die?' style questions.
- Replaying small social moments.
Is this normal?
Yes — worries are part of every childhood. Worry waves often arrive around developmental leaps, transitions, and big news.
Practical things that help
Sit down, listen properly
Worries shrink when they're heard in full, not interrupted.
Name and externalise
'There's the worry monster again — tell me what it's saying.'
Worry time
10 minutes a day to say all the worries, then put them away — contains rather than fuels them.
Move the body
Walking, rough play, jumping — worry sits in the body. Move it.
What can accidentally make it harder?
Answering the worry every time it appears
Trains the child to bring it back for the reassurance hit.
Dismissing the worry
Closes down the conversation and isolates the child with the feeling.
These are gentle observations, not blame. None of us avoid all of them all of the time.
What should I say?
- “Tell me everything the worry is saying.”
- “That's a big thought. I'm here.”
- “Let's draw the worry. What does it look like?”
Red flags and when to seek help
Worth an assessment
- Worries dominating the day for weeks.
- Worries stopping sleep, eating or attending school.
- Worries with intrusive themes (harm to self or others).
GP, school counselling, child psychology, CBT for children.
If your child is seriously unwell or in danger, get help now.
One tiny next step
Tonight, ask 'what's on your worry list?' and just listen.
Note what you triedTalk this through
Ask Little Humans about worries