Overview
- Reporting on Monday and Tuesday this week, child clinicians and school psychologists emphasized that first-day and transition nervousness is common and usually short-lived rather than a diagnosable disorder.
- Typical signs include stomachaches, headaches, trouble sleeping, clinginess, repeated questions about logistics, irritability, and behaviors that can be mistaken for defiance.
- Parents can lower distress by listening calmly, validating feelings, modeling confident calm, rehearsing routines, shifting bedtimes before school starts, and offering simple choices to restore a child’s sense of control.
- Teachers can help by keeping classroom routines clear and building trust through brief one-minute check-ins, and families should avoid letting avoidance (such as staying home) become the default response to anxiety.
- If symptoms persist, worsen, disrupt sleep or school attendance, or impair daily functioning parents should seek a pediatric visit to rule out medical causes and consider referral to counseling or child mental-health specialists; the CDC estimates about 11% of children ages 3 to 17 have a current diagnosed anxiety disorder.