Dizzy Heights & How To Help Children Down

Issac Newton once said “What goes up must come down”, but what on Earth are we supposed to do when children climb up too high and call out for help?

Recently, we’ve witnessed several occurrences where tiny climbers reach great heights only to get stuck when it was time to come back down to the ground.

In today’s podcast episode, we are deep diving into the physiology behind this and what adults can do to coach children down from great heights.

Nature immersion programs usually mean that children will end up climbing rather tall trees. Which is fantastic but have you ever wondered why all of a sudden they completely freeze up when it’s time to come down?

The answer is something doctors call “Height Vertigo” and it’s not so much that they’re scared of heights but that their senses are completely out of balance.

The conflict between vision, vestibular and somatosensory senses occurs when what the body feels doesn’t align with what they see.

This then causes them to panic and freeze.

So how can we bring balance to their senses and coach them down to the ground?

Here are our 4 tips:

1. Reassure Remind children that “when there’s a safe path up, there’s a safe path down”. 
2. Integrate The Senses  Essentially, you want them to look at the tree, hold it close to their tummy and hug the trunk like a koala.
3. Clear Instructions Be really specific and let them know where to put their feet as they descend down. You want them to stay looking at the tree rather than down at the ground.
4. Co-Regulate Remind them to take long, deep breaths and go slowly until they make their way down.

If you need to hold their body ask first.

For example,  “Is it ok if I support you around your waist/hips” and ensure they consent to your physical help.

Coaching children through their fear is really powerful and even though their hesitations might seem so trivial to us adults; it’s important to make the effort to kindly and gently point out the obvious things so as to not guilt or shame children for the fear their bodies were experiencing.

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