Depending on the age of the child, helping your child deal with the death of a family member will involve concrete explanations appropriate for the child’s age and answering any questions he or she may have regarding death with honest answers. It may be hard to be upfront with a child regarding the death of a family member, but it is vital that you send a child the message that death is a normal process of life and that everyone deals with death in their own way. Children under the age of five generally will not be able to comprehend the phenomenon of death, however, so sometimes all you can do is gently explain that someone dies when their body is no longer working properly.
Older Children
Older children usually understand the finality of death and may experience more difficulties in dealing with the death of a family member than younger children do. They understand that the deceased is not “coming back” as most younger children may think, and will ask complicated questions such as “Why did so and so have to die”? or “Why do we have to die”? Depending on the religious beliefs of the child’s family, answers to these questions will contain diverse answers that should adequately explain what the child wants to know without evading the actual meaning of the questions.
Child Psychologists
Sometimes when a child exhibits maladaptive behavior after the death of a family member, the services of a child psychologist may be necessary in order to assist the child in dealing with grief-related emotions. Children who are severely affected by the death of a grandparent or sibling may begin to “act out” and behave in a disrupting manner. Their school grades may suffer and physical symptoms such as insomnia or headaches may occur when none existed prior to the death.
Children often have trouble coping with grief in the same way that adults do. Helping a child deal with death means listening, answering questions and being there for them as much as possible. Increasing the amount of time an adult can spend with a child is important. By reducing obligations through a funeral plan insurance.

