How does one prepare a 6 year old for the death of her hamster??

Question

My 6 year old daughter has a 2 year old hamster that's not looking like it's going to make it much longer. She's sad, of course, because he cannot play like he used to. She and I both, are really tender-hearted, and this will just break her heart as well as mine.

I tried to tell her last night that it's likely that her pet wouldn't live much longer, but that it was ok, because he's had a really long and happy life with 3 people who absolutely adore him.

That seemed to help alittle. Any more suggestions on how to explain this better?

Answer 1

get a new one b4 she sees it die.replace them and keep one where she can't see it or won't see it.get one exactly identical to the other.if the other one knew tricks then forget all of that and just tell her.if she doesn't understand then let it die.get another asap.she will probably be too young to feel sad once she gets the other one.

Answer 2

i also have a 6 yr old with a hammy that died. We just told him that he got sick and there wasn't much we could do.  He was going to a better place where he wouldn't get sick ever again.

Hope this helps

Answer 3

My Hammy is almost 3 (!) and I'm fairly certain he's approaching his end too.

I'm 29, and it's rough enough for me to explain to myself :(

But I agree that "going to a better place" ; "resting" ; "great wheel in the sky with all you can eat cheese bar"... that sorta thing should help.

Good luck...

Answer 4

There is no easy way to explain death to kids that young.  You might try explaining to her - if the hamster is visibly ill - that he is obviously very tired now and it will be a relief for him to be able to rest.  That might be too confusing for her, though.  

I think for her it would probably be better to focus on the happy memories rather than his death.  Have you taken any pictures of him? If so you could take those out and talk about how much fun the two of them had.

Answer 5

When my first hamster died 6 years ago I was only 6 years old and i just kept feeling like it was my fault. I think that it would help if you told your kid that there was nothing you could do to help it and that it wasn't her fault.

Answer 6

Awe, this made me so sad.  

I would probably tell her that it is merely the beginning of a new and eternal life.

Good luck with that.  You are a great parent.

Answer 7

Does your daught watch Disney movies? When my kids were younger and had to deal with these types of things, I would always relate it back to someone passing in the Disney movies as they did indirectly learn about the circle of life through passings in the movies.

Answer 8

It's hard being a parent. My kids have expierenced the death of beloved pets, honestly they deal with it better than the grownups. Tears and sadness, of course, but they remember the good times more.

Be sure you have at least one picture of your daughter and her pet. If you don't already have one take one without making a big fuss about it. Take lots of pictures of her doing random stuff that day including a couple with the hamster, so it's not a "lets take a picture of our dying pet day" (kids are smart and will figure that out).

If you're inclined to get another hamster, getting one now in advance - separate cage  of course - may help ease the loss without it seeming like you're replacing a dead pet.

If you have a yard that you'll eventually be burying the pet in, your six year old can make a marker for it. Best permanent thing I've found that's unobtrusive (you don't really want your yard looking like a pet graveyard by the time your kid goes off to college) is to use the stepping stone kits. Have one on hand, if this is something that will appeal to your child. A less permant thing would be planting a flower or a tree in memory.

Some sites that may be worth reading.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/fe...

http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/pets/... - this one has some book reccomendations to read with your child including one by Fred Rogers.

There's also a great poem called "Rainbow Bridge" that you can find on the petloss site. (petloss.com I believe is the link - if not time in pet loss and rainbow bridge in a search engine and you'll find it)

I don't like refering to death as "resting" or "sleeping" because when mommy lays down to actually rest or sleep you could inadvertantly be scaring the heck out of your kid making her think that mommy might be dieing.

Answer 9

My sister recently lost a hamster. To explain to her what death was I told her that her hamster was not going to be living with us anymore and that he will get to go up to heaven where your fish went. It's okay to feel sad but Peek will be going to an even better place than here where we will all get to go someday.