Anxiety in Parents of Preschoolers

Starting Preschool

• According to child psychiatrist Joshua Sparrow, M.D., writing for the Scholastic Parents website, parental feelings of worry or uneasiness may actually trickle down to the child. Outwardly showing your anxiety on the child's first day of school, for example, can make your preschooler start to worry, too. Don't forget that he is looking to you for cues on how to behave in this new situation. Showing your nervousness, worrying or crying in front of him will make him think that something is wrong or scary about going to preschool. Although it's perfectly normal to have anxieties when you leave your child in a new place with new people for the first time, try to keep your worries to yourself. Put a smile on your face and reassure your child that preschool is the perfect place for him to be.

Developmental Milestones

• If you're constantly comparing your child's development to your friend's preschooler, the girl down the street or your little one's preschool classmates, you aren't alone. Parents of preschoolers may be afraid their kids are not hitting developmental milestones. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics on their Healthy Children website, most preschoolers are learning how to kick a ball, copy simple shapes, use scissors, speak in full sentences, follow multi-step commands, engage in pretend play and cooperatively play with other kids. That said, preschoolers will hit individual milestones at different times. Just because your first child could skillfully use scissors at age 3 doesn't mean that your second child will master this ability at the exact same time. Unless your preschooler is way off target or shows no signs of developing certain skills, anxieties about developmental milestones are just that -- your anxieties. They are not justified fears.

Kindergarten Readiness

• The start of grade school marks a new -- and often anxiety-ridden -- stage for many families. While your child is still in preschool, you may worry if he's on the road to kindergarten readiness or needs an extra year to grow and develop. The National Association for the Education of Young Children notes in a position statement on school readiness that kids develop in different ways at slightly different times. If you are worrying that some aspects of your child's development aren't up to kindergarten level, it does not mean you need to hold him back. For example, your child may have a mature mastery over language use, talking in full sentences and using an array of vocabulary words, but he may not excel when it comes to counting. This may cause you, like many parents, to have some degree of anxiety. Instead of spending days, weeks or even months fretting over this decision, ask the experts. Talk to your child's pre-K teacher and find out what her assessment is.

Safety

• According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year roughly 9.2 million kids suffer nonfatal injuries that require an emergency room visit. Feeling anxiety about your preschooler's safety isn't a totally unfounded worry, and it can actually help you lower the risk of accidents and injuries. You may have safety anxieties about your child when she climbs on the playground equipment, rides her trike on the concrete driveway, turns the living room into an obstacle course or unexpectedly comes into the kitchen while you are cooking. These common anxieties will cause you to feel a sense of caution and keep a watchful eye on your child. For example, the accident rate for burns are highest -- as the CDC notes -- in kids ages 4 and under. If you worry about your child getting hurt when she barges into the kitchen near the hot stove, you are right to feel concerned for her safety. Instead of constantly worrying, however, take concrete steps to child proof your home, discuss safety measures with your preschooler and supervise her at all times.