Once your children start school they will begin to form friendships, and some will last while others will deplete over time. Children of a young age may find it hard to make friends and besides holding onto friends is harder than it looks. Adults know this only too well - how people you adored left your life and you still to this day don’t know why. It is a hard time when this happens for adults let alone children and it can leave them sad and withdrawn.

They may not understand what they did, and, in many cases, they probably didn’t do anything. Children are notoriously fickle and will skip through friends following the latest fad or trend. This makes friendships hard to hold onto. If you want to help your child with their friend breakup there are some things you can do:

Talk to your child

This is a big deal to your kiddie and whether they are 3, 5 or 10 years old this experience will stay with them for a while. You need to be there for them and offer them your ear to listen and comfort them. Let them explain what happened or let them vent their frustration because nothing happened to end their friendship. You may need them to talk to you honestly so you can understand their situation better. If there is something you think can help the situation offer your opinion. 

Support them

You need to support your child but also stop short of letting them dwell on it for too long. However, you need to listen to them and don’t berate the other child for their behaviour as it could potentially blow over as it often does with kids. You don’t want your child to learn that when angry you blame others and give out about others. 

Encourage play dates

Once your child is up to it, get a few playdates arranged and encourage your child to make some new friends. It may not be the same for them and they may find it odd having others in their home instead of their more familiar friend, but things will settle down eventually. 

Talk to the other parent

If you know the parent of the child who your kiddie was good pals with, consider giving them a shout to discuss the friend breakup. It might have been something silly that can be easily rectified with some intervention. However, thread carefully as some parents won’t take to hearing their child has acted less than nicely and you should consider this and be careful about what you say. Be calm and try and work together to bring them back together. 

Help your child work on their social skills

Socialising is a difficult lesson for a child to learn and while you may not like to consider their ability to makes friends you should be realistic and pay attention to their behaviour around kids. Do they need some help in making friends? Are they emphatic and caring towards others? 

In time everything will be ok but for now be a good parent and look after your kiddie at this difficult time.