Panic attacks in children?

Question

My son is in Kindergarten and is normally very excited to go to school. He'll jump right out of the car in carpool lane and walk in. Starting last week, he seems to not want to go. He literally is making himself puke in the car and he can't stop crying. I have talked to him about this and asked why, but he won't say anything. I'm hoping this will pass, and I was hoping that someone else has dealt with this and can maybe give my husband and I some pointers on how to deal with this. His teacher's asst. said that she might have him talk to the counselor and hopefully that will help.

Answer 1

Tell him to calm down and that he has to go to school and there is no other way about it. When this happens, he needs to take slow, deep breaths (about two every 10 seconds) as this will calm him down. That will help, but if he needs some more assistance, then take him to the counselor.

Answer 2

Sometimes it's nothing.

I have no idea why they go through these stages..

My daughter did the same thing.. she absolutly loved it for a few weeks then out of NO where she started to hate it, cringe at the thought and vomit and all that stuff..

Eventually it went away after many talks and many days of crying..

I reassured her that she can tell me anything.. if anything is bothering her or if something happened,... I told her that almost daily..

I would even confide in her and tell her things about my day (just tiny things as examples) and that helped her .. she felt more comfortable in talking to me once I told her that even mommy has things at work that makes me get sad.. like when my friend told me I did a case wrong.. but later she told me that she'd help me fix it and how nice that was of her .. so that got her to open up about how her BFF told her she didn't like her anymore..

just an example..

I hope you find some answers soon, I nkow what a tough time this is for yal..

good luck!

Answer 3

My daughter is 9 now.. I deal with this with her since she started school. She is a very quiet and shy child. She is also very private.

In kindergarten it was overwheling to her. I told the teacher in the beginning and she always kept a close eye on her. If a child did something to her you would now by her face but she would never say anything. The teacher talk to her about speaking up and she never did. Nothing bad happened that year. The teacher just kept her close to her or the aid. She was definetly the teachers pet. She did what was told to do and followed all rules. I started helping out in the class 1 or 2 days a week and this helped out.

2nd Grade teacher kept her close to her and tried to help her to speak up. Very nice teacher but actually spoiled her.

1 st grade I helped out whenever they needed. My daughter was born with reflux. In the hall there was a boy just poking her. She was scared. The teacher said there was no problems in class. By the time she got outside to me she could barely hold her head up. She would be refluxing so bad with fear. I asked and she never told. Then after 3 weeks and many times going to the Dr. she said that boy is mean. I ask her where was he mean at? In the hallway. The school then watched and had that problem taken care of that day. She still would not speak up and was told to be the principle etc.

3rd grade boybothering her. She was scared didn't speak up. I knew there was a problem. It was happening on the play ground. Finally found out what was happening. She had to go to a social worker who only got out of her a boy yells at her. Asst. Principle called in the boy and said that my daughter told him everything. He wanted to hear this in his own words. He was kicking her, tripping her and knocking her down. That explains the sore ankles.

All things that happened to her was never directly told to me. I had to talk to her and pull out many clues. Several small conversations and talking to the teacher. You need to go into the classroom and see what is happening. If the teacher doesn't like him then you will figure this out. Sometimes my daughter would get so upset about her artwork and any project she was doing that didn't turn out right. She is extremelu sensitive.

The only way to find out is to get involve. Talk to all teachers involved with him. Personally not email. If then it is not figured out. Ask teachers and principle what can you do to figure this out. Obivously something has happened. What you will not know until you figure it out.

Answer 4

This sounds worrying something must have happened for your son to cahnge his feelings so quickly you need to find out what it was so you can either sort it out or just reassure him it won't hapen again or isn't real.

It could be someone bulling him even young children can be hurtful or it could be a story that has scared him but you need to know.

Answer 5

my daughter is 7 and has had panic attacks for the last 3 years....her's are much worse with her passing out and not breathing, throwing up, screaming and running around, fast heartbeat, crying..we have taking her to the ER many times and the doctors say it is stress related...I was shocked to find that out figuring "what in the world does she have to be stressed about?"

Well, at the time they started we were in the process of moving to another state so I figured that's what triggered them. She gets them when she is stressed now from school or if she gets to excited about something. We have found that if we get her to lay down and just stroke her hair or rub or back, giving her some "calming time" and tell her to breathe very slowly she will usually calm down within minutes...hope this helps a little. I know how scary and stressful it is for parents too. Good Luck.

Answer 6

Something has definitely happened in school to upset him!  You need to get to the bottom of it, sooner rather than later.  If he's only in kindergarten, he will develop such a hatred of school that he will never do well.  

It's possible that he is being bullied by someone, and has been told by the bully "Don't tell anyone, or I'll kill you."  Even kids this small can be incredibly mean to each other.  You need to meet with his teacher and find out exactly what has occurred.  No child this young deserve to have such an unhappy day, every day!

Answer 7

Something is going on at the school that you need to investigate - and I would pull the teacher and the principal into it. It could be the teacher or a bully, if I had to guess. Something is not okay and it's too big for him to deal with on his own. That's why he has parents!

I have great kids who are all well-behaved, good students, excited about school and last year a problem 5th grade teacher tried to grab my daughter. She had a full blown panic attack at school and I came unglued. She has never done this before and is very good at knowing how to tell and ask another adult for help - this woman scared her so much she shut down and refused to talk to ME when I got there! It took hours to get her to open up about what happened - and she hadn't done anything wrong (there were other children who witnessed the incident and they told the principal). This particular teacher should not be teaching - she has been sent to anger management counseling before and she is only teaching still because she has tenure and the teachers' union is too strong. Teachers of my older girls have told me this! Everyone thinks she needs to be let go or forced into retirement, but they can't do it. If she would have laid one hand on my daughter, I can assure you I would have pursued it - but as it was, my daugher ducked and ran away from her.

This was an 11 yr old. Your son is 5 or 6? Something is wrong and you have to find out what it is. The teacher's asst isn't going to be much help. I have found school staff tend to stick together and if it is an adult at the school that is upsetting him - you won't get the answers you need without going in and confronting them yourself.

I would request the classroom be monitored (except if it's happening in there and there is a monitor, they will curb their behavior while they are being watched), an appt with the principal and then the principal and the teacher and the aid, Have your son watched on the playground - if there is another kid bullying him at recess, etc... You have the right to get the answer of what the heck is going on! I wouldn't stop until I did.  

Best Wishes - it shouldn't be like this. I am not against teachers by any means, and I hope it's not an adult who is upsetting your son - but there are some who should have chosen another profession. If it's a bully - that needs to be dealt with too.

Answer 8

Aww, your poor little boy. Did something happen at school to make him change his mind, maybe some other kids were picking on him or bullying him? Is it a kindergarten only, or are there higher grades in his school as well? I ask because I remember when I was his age the older kids would pick on the kindergarten kids and that is such a sensitive age. Hopefully the counselor will be able to provide you with some helpful information. Also, maybe you could talk to his teacher too and have her keep an eye on him and report to you any unusual behavior.

Good luck.

Answer 9

I am sorry to hear about your little boy.

You should have taken him to the doctor. I understand children can be very hyper and exciting, but to the point of vomiting? It doesn't sound good, whatever is making him sick it should be monitored. Does his class provide snacks, if they do, what kind of snacks? He may be allergic to dairy or something like that.

I suggest you make an appointment with his pediatrician asap.

Ask your son if he will feel better if you came along into his class, sometimes, anxieties can trigger such behavior.

Good luck to you mom.