In the life of almost any person, questions arise whether to talk to a child about the death of a loved one. If we say, how and when? What words to choose so as not to traumatize the child's psyche?
Psychologists believe unequivocally that it is necessary to say. If you try to hide it, then sooner or later the child will still learn from someone else or guess, and this will be a minus in relations with parents. The child must not be deceived, otherwise the trust in the parents will be lost. And then children really feel the state of adults. And if an adult is experiencing a loss, then the child realizes that something is happening, and begins to get nervous that he cannot understand the reason.
It is necessary to inform the child about the death as soon as possible. A child under 7 years of age still cannot fully understand that death is forever. And children do not know how to experience as long and deeply as adults. Therefore, they will receive the news with their childish concept of the world. It is worth explaining to the child what death is. What this explanation will be depends on the adults. From their own idea of death (atheistic or religious). Information should be given in doses, but if there are questions, then try to answer them as accurately and easily as possible. And do not forget that if a child does not ask anything, this does not mean that he is not worried. He is just trying to put into his consciousness a new concept for him - death.
But whether it is necessary to take the child to the funeral is a moot point. There is no definite answer to it. In my opinion, it is better not to take the child, but to explain to him that only adults go to the funeral. But later it is necessary to take the child to the cemetery and show the place of burial.
And we must not forget that the child has the right to his experiences and emotions. Please understand this. Give him the opportunity to express his feelings. Children learn everything from adults. Therefore, not only the child's behavior at this moment, but also his attitude to grief in adulthood depends on how the family will behave during the experience of grief. If adults pretend that nothing terrible has happened, then the child will learn exactly this behavior in this situation, and if adults, on the contrary, experience very intense feelings, then the child may be frightened and will behave this way in the future. Therefore, you should not be ashamed to tell the child about your experiences and show your grief, just do not focus the child's attention on this constantly. After all, life goes on, and you need to pull yourself together and move on. Adults are responsible not only for themselves, but also for the happy life of their child.
