Like The Idea Of The Hug Button? Here Are Six Other Tools That May Help Ease Child Separation Anxiety

We love the pebble idea ๐Ÿ™Œ

No parent likes the thought of their child experiencing separation anxiety when they head off to nursery or school on their own.

After one mum explained that she had come up with the idea of a โ€™hug buttonโ€™ to comfort her four-year-old son, many other parents have shared similar ways theyโ€™ve made their child feel at ease.

The hug button is very simple - itโ€™s a heart drawn on a parentโ€™s hand and a childโ€™s hand that โ€œchargesโ€ when they touch and can โ€œsend hugsโ€ if pressed.

Here are six alternative ways of using the hug button, as shared by our HuffPost UK Parents community.

WanderWomen via Getty Images

1. Small Pebble

One mum shared: โ€œI did the hug button but the heart rubbed off when washing hands and made my daughter more upset. So I painted a small pebble we had found and put a heart on it. On the other side I wrote โ€˜mummy loves youโ€™ and I kiss it before I give it to my daughter.

โ€œShe carries it in her pocket at school and rubs it when she feels sad.โ€

2. Keyring.

โ€œI give my son my small giraffe keyring when heโ€™s overly sensitive,โ€ another wrote. โ€œIt fits into the palm of his hand, I may start โ€˜chargingโ€™ that.โ€

3. Smiley Face

โ€ณI did the hug button but my son didnโ€™t want to have a dirty hand so washed it off,โ€ one mum explained.

โ€œHe asked me to draw it on his bag instead, we had a smiley face.โ€

chanida_p2 via Getty Images

4. Heart Zip

Another mum said she uses hearts that she and her daughter already have and touches them to โ€œchargeโ€ them. She explained: โ€œI do something similar, but with my daughterโ€™s heart-shaped zip on her pinafore and my Fitbit heart sensor.โ€

5. Paper Kiss

โ€œI kiss a piece of paper (with lipstick on) and write on it โ€˜special kissโ€™ so my son has a mummy kiss all day long in his pocket,โ€ explained another mum.

6. Extra Kisses

A mum wrote: โ€œI put extra kisses behind my daughters ears to save for later.โ€

Close