Coping with family stress

What is stress?

Stress is the body’s reaction to change that requires a physical, mental, or emotional adjustment and can be broken down into three categories:

• Acute stress – also known as our ‘fight or flight’ response. This is our body’s immediate reaction to any type of perceived threat, and can be quite intense. Examples of acute stress might be the first day at a new job or giving a speech.  
• Episodic acute stress – this occurs when someone frequently has bouts of acute stress. These people might be constantly rushing and often overextend themselves, e.g. the stress of being in Year 12 and dealing with assessments or exams.
• Chronic stress – this stress response is subtler and tends to be more long-lasting with stress spanning over weeks or months as factors contributing to your stress continue to pile up. 

What happens when your kids don't get enough sleep?

What happens when your kids don’t get enough sleep
Getting the right amount of sleep is important for kids' developing body and wellbeing. Find out how much sleep your child needs and the impacts of not getting enough.
What’s so important about sleep?
For a growing body, sleep is just as important as nutrition and exercise
Sleep is vital for kids' health, development and wellbeing. It helps them to stay healthy, grow, learn and do well in school. Sleep physically restores their body, improves brain function and mental health.
Kids of all ages need to get enough sleep so they can play, learn and concentrate during the day.
Not getting enough sleep can have a big impact on your kids – behaviourally, mentally and emotionally.
Most kids don’t get enough sleep as they’re often busy with school, study, sporting and social commitments.
How much sleep is enough?
Recommended hours of sleep per night can vary depending on age. Every kid is different, so take time to figure out what works best for your kid. Here’s a guide:
•    0-11 months - 14-18 hours per day
•    1-2 years - 10-14 hours per day
•    3-5 years - 10-13 hours per day
•    6-13 years - 9-11 hours per day
•    14-18 years - 8-9 hours per day

The impact of lack of sleep

Sleep problems are some of the most common issues faced by parents. When kids don’t get enough sleep over a period of time, the following behavioural, cognitive (mental) and emotional symptoms can occur:

Sleepiness during the day

Issues with study and socialising

Irritability and moodiness

Shorter attention span

Lack of concentration and focus

Increased forgetfulness

Reduced academic performance

Lack of interest and motivation

Difficulty learning new information

Difficulty regulating emotions

Increased emotional problems

Reduced immune system

Poorer memory

Increased impulsivity

Higher risk of accidents

Increased stress

Higher levels of obesity

Decline in mental health

The challenge for kids and their parents is understanding the need for sleep and its restorative powers, and factoring into their busy lives sufficient time for good sleep.
 

Communication tips

What is great communication?

Conveying our message is only one part of communication. Great communication goes further and allows us to build trust, self-esteem and strong healthy relationships.

• Great communication is a two-way process. Listening is as important as talking
• Your child’s brain is still developing including learning to handle their emotions and communicate well
• Successful communication with your child depends on what, how, when, where and why you say things. What you don’t say is also important!

Communication styles

The way we communicate differs based on gender, cultural background, age and the situation.

It’s likely you and your child have different communication expectations because of the generation gap.

However, in general there are three communication styles. The first is more helpful when compared with the other two.