11/11/2025
One of the most powerful tools we have as parents or carers is co-regulation: the way a child’s nervous system takes cues from our own.
When a child is overwhelmed, anxious, or having a meltdown, they’re not being difficult, they’re stuck in fight or flight and their brain is signalling that it needs support.
Before they can ‘self-regulate’, they often need to borrow our calm.
This looks like:
🌿 Slowing your breath so theirs can follow
🌿 Softening your voice and body language
🌿 Getting down to their level
🌿 Sitting nearby without pressure or demands
🌿 Offering connection instead of correction
Children don’t learn to regulate by being told to “calm down.” They learn it by catching the calm from us.
Every time you show up with calm in the middle of the chaos, you’re wiring your child’s brain for resilience, connection and emotional safety 🤎
