5 Year Old Girl's Mood Behavior

I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter who talks about death all the time. I think it is something new to them that they can't quite get a grip on the actual meaning of it. She too talks about her grandfather and great grandparents in heaven and will start weeping saying that she wants to see them. I think it is just a phase that will pass. We try to explain death to her in a non-scary way and to talk through her emotions but it is tough when they are this young for them to understand. Be patient and I am sure this will pass.

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Hello I am a mother of 3(9 girl,5 boy,9 mo boy) they are all born at home and I am a midwife. Is she in school? or do you home school? My daughter will be fine all day and at bed time she will start to cry and freak out. It usually turns out to be something that hurt her feelings during the day that seems to come out later in the evening. Shes just being 5! it is a very emotional time for a girl. Please dont label her as depressed yet. That may be true with your genetic history but it is also true of 5 year old girls! they seem to have the weight of the world on their shoulers, I was amazedat the influence of others around her at 5 and 6 years old. By the time she was 7 she had found more of "her self" ITS A MAGICAL AGE!!
Sam Evans LM CPM

Did she by any chance sleep with you all night and then woke up happy? If yes, then it has something to do with being alone or something to do with being in bed. You better check into this.

Your post could have been mine just a few months ago. My 5yo daughter came home from school just sobbing and couldn't tell me what was wrong. The rest of the evening went just as yours did...woke up the next day just fine. I was really worried the entire night, but thank goodness this hasn't happened again. Don't get me wrong, she is still moody and somewhat emotional, but she bounces right back and is her happy energetic self. We've also dealt a lot with questions about dying lately. I think 5 is just a hard age for girls. (maybe boys too, but I only have experience with girls at this age so far)
Anyway, I think they are becoming so much more aware of real vs fantasy. All I can say is just continue reassuring her and hopefully this is just a phase that will soon pass. There was a neat book I picked up last week at B&Noble called, Just in Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado...if you get a chance you should look at it.

Last night there was an excellent show on PBS called "The Medicated Child".
* watch it here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/?c...

They said that children as young as 2 and 3 years old are being heavily medicated and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. However, excessive studies have shown that medicine for depression do not work the same in children as adults and many Dr.s cocktail several meds together to experiment what may work with children.

Perhaps she is going through some struggles that she isn't talking about and may need to see a counselor, just to learn to cope with some emotions. I just said everything earlier in case you run into someone who wants to medicate your child without excersizing alternatize coping methods, or who diagnoses her with depression.

This would concern me too. You only describe one episode however and it could be a passing thing that needs to be addressed of course. Age five is the age that kids begin to conceptualize and it could be something as simple as a new concept that frightened her through a movie or story book or an adult conversation she overheard. See if you can determine what it is that has upset her through gentle conversation and reassure her whenever possible, but if this behavior continues, do not hesitate to seek medical help. Also I would suggest that our children pick up on the mindset of their caretakers often without hearing a thing. Your reference to "Papa in heaven" from a death so long ago suggests that it has been on the minds of adults who have somehow conveyed their saddness to this child. It may have been a bit too much too soon for her. If it passes, let it be.
C. S.