Tips for Emotional Regulation in Kids (and the Grown ups who love them).

Let’s face it: our children’s big feelings can sometimes feel like tidal waves—sudden, overwhelming, and hard to navigate The sentence I hear the most when I meet with parents and they describe their experience is 0-100 in seconds. So side note- if this is your experience you're not alone!

But emotional regulation isn’t about stopping emotions; it’s about helping kids understand and ride those waves with more confidence and calm.

Whether your child struggles with anxiety, sensory overload, or emotional outbursts, there are gentle, effective strategies that help. 💛

🧠 Here's the science:

When children are in a stress response, their nervous system is in fight, flight, or freeze mode. That means logic and language go offline — which is why reasoning in the heat of the moment often doesn’t work.

Emotional regulation starts with co-regulation: helping your child feel safe, seen, and soothed while their brain resets.

But what about when you just don't have it in you to Co -regulate all day? Or you are so depleted from feeling like you have to walk on eggshells, or have a crystal ball to see into the future all the time so there are as little triggers as humanly possible?

That's where Nutritional medicine steps in.

Recognizing that it is the nervous system we need to support means it's no longer an uphill battle.

Working out what your child's individual reactions and drivers are means be able to quickly reduce these big swings and leave room to breathe and make plans for even bigger improvements to regulation.

💛 Here’s the soul:

You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be present.

A child having a meltdown is a child feeling like they're in free fall. Imagine they're simply asking “Am I safe? Am I loved? Can you help me through this?” And your calm presence is often the most powerful answer.

🍎 And here’s a snack (aka practical tips in the meantime):

1. Name it to tame it: Help your child label their feelings. “You’re feeling really frustrated because your tower fell down.”

2. Breathe with them: Try box breathing together — 4 seconds in, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4.

3. Create a calm-down corner: A cosy space with soft lighting, pillows, books or sensory items helps them regulate independently over time.

4. Use rhythm and movement: Rocking, swinging, drumming, dancing — these activities help discharge pent-up energy and soothe the nervous system.

5. Model it yourself: When you get dysregulated, narrate your calm-down process:“I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed so I’m going to take three deep breaths before we keep going.”

   
   

🌈 You’re not doing it wrong if it’s hard.

You’re building a foundation that will support your child for life. That’s brave, powerful, and deeply loving work.

With warmth and calm,

Clare 🌿