Grieving for Our Young Child (2-10)

UK Helpline: 0345 123 2304 | www.tcf.org.uk We may wish to quietly step away from those whose comments make our grief harder to bear. All of this underlines how important it can be to communicate with other bereaved parents who can understand what we are going through because they have been there too. Many of us find this mutual support invaluable. The Compassionate Friends (TCF) holds digital, local and national meetings for bereaved parents, and offers online and telephone support. It can be such a comfort to know that we are not alone, and talking with others may help us find our own way forward. Adjusting to life without our child’s presence Our life will never be the same again. No matter how much time goes by, we will always be a parent to our child, and we will always miss them. Many of us have found that remembrance activities enable us to keep a continued bond with our child and can be very comforting, albeit bittersweet. Such activities could include lighting candles, planting a tree in their memory, visiting their favourite places, making a book with their photographs, and much more. We may need to brace ourselves when preparing for significant dates such as our child’s birthday or the anniversary of their death. Finding an appropriate activity that acknowledges our child and celebrates their life can be helpful in managing the rollercoaster of emotions that we might experience at such times. We may wish to visit places we had been to together or bake a cake that was their favourite. Again, this will be bittersweet, as they are not here to enjoy it with us. As the years pass, we may find ourselves imagining what our child would have been doing or how they might have looked, had they lived. Such thoughts are not unusual, but are nevertheless very