Seven Ways to Reduce Sensory Overload This Holiday Season

The holidays can be intense- intensely fun and intensely difficult. All the new sights, sounds, smells and people can be a lot for anyone, especially young children. My intention is to lighten your load and give you seven things you can do to help reduce sensory overload this holiday season. If you have no idea what it’s like to haul your screaming child down a flight of stairs to the cool dark basement where they lay on the floor sobbing from the complete overwhelm of the day, I’m genuinely happy for you, but I encourage you to read on. If you don’t work with kids or have a kiddo with sensory needs, you might not be aware of what havoc the holidays can wreak on our poor kid’s little brains and bodies. This might help you better support your loved ones. And if you are the one in the cool, dark basement managing a meltdown, perhaps your own meltdown, I assume you have skipped on to the highlights at this point.

**Im not a doctor this is not medical advice. I’m not an occupational therapist. But I am a mom who has some sensory needs, parenting a highly sensitive hypoglycemic. We don’t have the option to ignore his body’s signals, that ends in a trip to the ER. We have had to teach him from an early age to listen to his body. In doing so, I truly believe we have reaped the reward of a more peaceful home because we ALL pay more attention to what we need. Again. Not medical advice *

Holiday season= crazy. Kids are off their schedules. Lights, music and crowded events can contribute to sensory overload. Everyone has traded in their normal stress for glitterier, holiday stress and are running on sugar and caffeine. Honestly, that’s sort of a year-round problem, but you get my point.

The holidays are complicated for people with sensory sensitivities. It’s wonderful…sometimes. You want to make it to today’s event, but your social battery is depleted from last night’s Christmas party and your child is buzzing from excitement and you’re not sure back-to-back parties is a good idea. You’ve already been to overstimulation station 15 times in the month of December before the Christmas celebrations even arrive. You’re keenly aware that the joyful chaos of the day, complete with crowded hot houses, unfamiliar faces, too much sugar, elation of gift opening coupled with the frustration of a scratchy collar…or worse, tights bunched up in the toe of a shoe, may send your sensitive person over the edge. Think Max and the Grinch tipping over Mt Crumpet and plummeting toward Whoville. The sleigh of all the gifts?  Pretend those are allllll the moments of sensory overload that have been piling up…and whammy. Crash and burn into Whoville and the whole tree goes up in flames.

*Cue the wailing child being carried into the garage/ basement/bathroom…. whatever quiet place you can find*

If this sounds familiar, might I suggest some options? Here are seven things you can do to help reduce sensory overload this holiday season.

Dial Back Your Commitments

You might get some push back from family members that you or your child needs to learn to be more flexible or that this is just “part of life”.  And they are learning to be more flexible, because you are teaching them to identify when they are getting overwhelmed and some options they have. More on that later but YOU are your child’s expert. You know when too much is too much. The holiday season does not need to be some sort of socialization final exam to measure the year’s progress. Do what you can but put peace first. Connection over perfection.

Eat Before You Go

BEFORE you’re over the river and through the woods, eat a sandwich. You heard me. I don’t care how big the meal you’re heading to is, your young child is not going to eat it anyway.  The new atmosphere, all the cousins, new people, unlimited sugar sitting on a table within their reach, plus all the above-mentioned sensory overload from all the events leading up to the current one.….

Nah. They are not going to eat without a fight so might I suggest eliminating the fight altogether. Serve your kiddos a small meal full of protein, carbs and fat before you go. Anything they eat at dinner with family is icing on the cake. While you’re at it…you eat too. Worried about overeating? You are far less likely to overindulge on the super-rich, less-than-healthy holiday food If you eat before you go. It is scientifically proven that you are less likely to fight with your husband in the car on the way to grandma’s house if you are not hangry.

• We are all nicer when we eat. That’s because when your blood sugar is stable, you are stable. When your kid’s blood sugar is stable…you have at least helped set them up for some semblance of stability.  No one wants a blood sugar crash as the Christmas story is being read.
  • Ideas: a deli meat and cheese sandwich, veggies and hummus, cheese sticks, crackers and fruit, a protein packed smoothie ect.

Everyone eat before you leave the house or within one hour of arriving at your destination, make adjustments depending on your situation.

Hydrate

• Drink plenty of water before you go.
  • Your body needs water to keep your systems running, thus keeping you and your children more level. We fill a water bottle for each person, and everyone drinks theirs on the way. I promise the potential for a bathroom stop is worth it.

Take a Quiet 5

• Five to ten minutes out from your destination take a “quiet 5”. Five to ten minutes of no talking. No fighting. Everyone’s eyes closed, except the driver obviously. Maybe play some calming music, or if that’s too much shut it off all together. Deep breaths. Get those nervous systems as regulated as possible before stepping into the madness. Fun madness, but madness, nonetheless.
• This is a good time to make sure everyone drank their water.

Dress Comfortably in Light Layers and Familiar Clothing

• I know the temptation is to put our kids in adorable little get ups that will look darling under the Christmas tree.
• I beg of you. Reconsider.
• Dress in light layers because when you add a ton of people in a house it tends to get hot.  
• YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN should wear something you already know everyone is comfortable in. No itchy tags, no stiff pants, no new underwear and for the love of all that is right in the world….no. new. socks. Choose socks you know they can tolerate.

 TODAY IS NOT THE DAY to rip into the package of brand-new socks. You will regret it. The children will regret it. The spectators of “The Great Christmas Meltdown of 2022” will regret it.

Avoid food dye like it is the plague.

Especially RED. Our son suffered from alllll the food allergies when he was young. We have done a lot of work and now he can tolerate most foods in small quantities. But there is one that is still terrible and that, dear reader, is Red Dye 40. Any artificial dye really, but red is the worst for us. And I do mean us. I cannot tolerate red dye whatsoever. My heart races and my anxiety goes through the roof.

If you have ever wondered how a child can go from sweet and kind to needing an exorcism in 20 minutes, its dye. Or low blood sugar. Or –and this is my nightmare—both.

Make a Family Plan

• Make a plan ahead of time as a family how you will support each other during times of overwhelm. Self-regulation is a long game but teach them what it might feel like to be getting overwhelmed.
• You want them to come find you so that you can help them figure out what their body needs BEFORE the cousins get into a brawl.
• Deep breaths? Water? Food other than cookies? A break in a quiet room? Sitting on mom or dad’s lap? Going on a brisk walk? Maybe they’ve had to sit still for too long and need a quick outlet for their energy before they burst.
• If you are a parent feeling overwhelmed by your child’s big feelings or meltdowns, remember moms and dads need breaks too. Ask grandma to keep an eye on kiddos and go breath in some cold air.
• It’s hard to model self-regulation when we are on the brink of a Grinch and Max moment ourselves.
• You know your child, help them know themselves and have a plan.

So as review, Seven things you can do to reduce sensory overload this holiday season.

1. Dial Back on Commitments.
2. Eat BEFORE you arrive.
3. Hydrate.
4. Dress in comfortable, light and familiar clothing
5. Take a Quiet 5.
6. Avoid food coloring likes it’s the plague.
7. Have a plan.

Helping our kids learn self-regulation and how to identify what their body needs is a long game. You don’t have to master it all this Christmas. These are just some things that have been helpful for us that I hope can help you too.

Comment any and all things that help your family get through the holidays in one piece! If this has been helpful, please share.

And if you see a parent managing a meltdown, when they resurface, take them a drink and a snack tell them they are doing a good job.

-Lauren