Helping My Child Through a Meltdown Without Fixing It for Them

The first time my child had a full-blown meltdown in public, my instinct was to stop it immediately — to fix the feelings, make it stop, and move on.

But I’ve learned something: kids don’t need us to fix their feelings. They need us to sit with their feelings.

Now, I try this:

• Stay close. Even if I’m not talking, my presence says, “I’m here.”

• Name the feeling. “You’re feeling really frustrated right now.”

• Let it move through. Emotions are like waves — they rise, peak, and pass.

Only after the storm passes do we talk about what happened and what to do next time.

It’s not easy to hold space without jumping in to solve it. But the more I practice, the more my kids learn that they’re capable of feeling big feelings and coming out the other side — and that I’ll be there with them through it.