Hugs are a great way to show love and affection for your child. But when your little one is acting jumpy, emotional, or out of control, they can do much more than that. A good hard hug, with lots of squeezing to the trunk and shoulders, can provide some powerful sensory input to a disorganized child and help restore feelings of calm and control. This may be particularly effective if your child has sensory integration problems around the proprioceptive sense, or sense of body position. A hard hug gives good input to the joints, and may make your child feel more grounded and less antsy. But most children will benefit from a good squeeze when they're feeling out of sorts. If your child doesn't like to be hugged, see if he or she will tolerate a hug from behind -- sometimes not having their faces buried will relieve any sense of hug-panic. If even that is too intense, try a game like making your child into a burrito to administer that calming deep pressure. Maybe the best thing about this secret weapon is that all this hugging and squeezing makes you feel calmer and more in control, too.
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