"How to ease the pain of grief by using this one simple strategy"

How do you explain death to young children?

One of the hardest lessons for a parent, is to teach their child about life and death. Whether it is a family friend, a relative or a pet that has died, how should a parent best explain this to a young child without frightening them?

You want to protect your children but they will sense your grief.  They need to know they are not responsible for the event or your sadness. Keeping your explanation simple but honest will remove fear while still letting your child acknowledge their feelings.

Experts agree that the best way to handle death - no matter how young the child - is to tell the truth.

By hoping to protect their children from the grief they are personally experiencing, it may be tempting for a parent to say that a relative has gone on a trip, or a pet has run away. However, children pick up on the emotions of others and may become insecure about the possible 'disappearance' of other loved ones.

Sharing your grief by telling your child the pet or loved one has died permits them to grieve as well. They will not blame themselves for the loss if it is explained the pet or person was old or ill.

While you do not have to go into details you should reassure your child that sickness like that is not common and you and they are not going to get that sick.

If the person was old tell your child that you will be around for a long, long time and they don't have to worry. If a pet dies from old age let them know pets don't live as long as people.

While you may or may not go into details about your beliefs, try not to use euphemisms that could confuse your child. 'Passed on', 'went to sleep' or 'put down' are likely to frighten a child and may create the impression they could also die in their sleep.