On Christmas eve, after lights had been out for sometime, dd5 realised she hadn't put carrots out for the reindeers and called out, very upset. DH went to her, so I don't know exactly what happened, but he says she started saying she couldn't yawn or take a deep breath. To cut a long story short, she is still having difficulties taking deep breaths and yawning. Her doctor has told me she thinks it's anxiety, the time of year etc. There is nothing to indicate it is a physical problem.
Overall she's a very happy, very brave kid, but she is prone to emotional OE and occasional bouts of anxiety - especially about physical illness (so of course her breathing difficulties got worse as she started to panic more and more about them!) Mostly we talk things through and I try to step her through alternatives to her worries or help her visualise what is actually likely to happen and she's fine. She'll even talk herself down now sometimes (I've heard her say "i know that is unlikely to happen because of w,x,y and even if it does the worst that can happen z"). Which is great.
But the breath thing has me a little stumped - it now pops its head up a couple of times a day (and look, it has only been a few days, so it may well just be a passing phase), and while it passes quite quickly now that she has gotten used to it, if she is really upset her inability to catch her breath - understandably - scares her. Once we've dealt with whatever issue is at hand, to help her get calm enough to breath comfortably I've been suggesting she try and think about something happy or something she's looking forward to doing, but I am wondering if there are any relaxation exercises people have found that work for their kids as I think she could benefit from them in general.
Any thoughts?
Last edited by Giftodd; 12/28/10 05:35 PM. Reason: added dd's age
