It is natural for parents to worry, but worrying can go too far. When worrying goes too far and starts becoming unrealistic, it can turn into anxiety. The list of things that you can worry about is quite long, but focusing on these things can add a new layer of stress to your life.

Here are three tips for managing parental anxiety.

3 Tips that can help with parental anxiety

1. Learn the statistics. First, one way to combat your anxiety is to learn statistics. Especially for worries like abduction, knowing the concrete numbers can ease your fears. Out of all of the missing children under 18, only about 100 are stereotypical kidnappings by strangers. For other activities, like swimming, it is also important to know the statistics to keep your child safe.
2. Practice mindfulness exercises. Next, anxiety is as much a mental response as it is a physical response, and if you fill your body reacting to your anxiety, it’s important to calm yourself down. You can do this in many ways, including mindfulness exercises and slow breathing.
3. Take reasonable actions against your fears. Finally, you can also take reasonable actions against certain fears. For example, if you are concerned with your child’s fine motor skills, you can have your child evaluated by a therapist to ensure that they are hitting their milestones appropriately. Taking reasonable and practical action is better than worrying or constantly researching childhood development milestones.

Parents worry all the time, but worrying can easily turn into anxiety. Parental anxiety usually involves an excessive worry about the potential for things to go wrong. If you struggle with parental anxiety, you can ease your anxiety by learning statistics, practicing mindfulness exercises, and taking reasonable actions against fears.