As a parent you want to offer your child the best of everything, especially the experience of you as their parent. So when the challenges of secondary infertility mount, managing stress is key in consideration of your child’s needs. Here are some tips that can help:
COMMUNICATION IS KEY
You hope your young child will be oblivious to what you’re going through, especially if you aren’t talking to them directly about it. But, that’s likely not the case. Children are extremely intuitive even at a very early age. They can pick up on your moods and emotions. They might be worried when they see mom go to the doctor or think it’s their fault that mom and dad are upset or stressed out. It’s okay for a child to hear or see that a parent is sad or hurting from time to time. Children can identify with emotions, its part of being human. It’s equally important to answer children’s questions about sadness with honesty and an age-appropriate explanation. When children see parents bounce back from tears and sadness, those actions teach resilience. If parents can’t bounce back and/or struggle daily in front of children, it can have an adverse impact however. At that point, parents should definitely consider the supportive services of a counselor to help ease some of the burden and offer support.
Joanna Flemons, MSW, LCSW, CPC
Joanna Flemons is the owner of Highlands Ranch Counseling and Coaching and has been in the field since 1998. She is a Licensed Psychotherapist and Social Worker specializing in infertility counseling.
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