Any change or loss can be really unsettling for young children. 

Children like stability and find great comfort in it.

All parents have had the experience of a young child insisting that they read the same story over and over and over again, or that they continually want to watch the same video or listen to the same song. 

Young children benefit from having routines - ways of getting ready to go to bed, rituals about what is said and done when they get up in the morning,the way they walk to school. 

Children need to have boundaries of lifestyle and behaviour set for them, and lack of boundaries can lead to a poorly-developed sense of self, poor self-control and inadequate social skills.

In most cases, children are not as good at anticipating change than adults, but can often appear to adapt more quickly once the change has happened. 

Any form of change, such as going to a new school or moving to a new area, can be very unsettling, regardless of how many improvement the change brings. 

An adult moving to a bigger house may think that this is an exciting and wonderful time. 

They look forward to the change and can only usually see the long term positives.

However, the child may dread the change or find it disturbing no matter how much they might want to have a bigger room. 

It is totally normal for them to feel this way.

Once the change has happened, the child's mood may change very quickly and they may appear to adapt very quickly to the new situation. 

In traumatic circumstances, however, this doesn't mean that the change has had no effect on the child.

Reactions may surface later, even many years later. 

If given the right support, children can be very resilient and adapt to changes more quickly and positively.

A child's reaction to a loss may appear illogical or disproportionate to an adult. 

A child who has just lost a parent may not appear to grieve openly at all, while the rest of the family is devastated and finds it hard to comprehend that they want to go out and play as usual. 

On the other hand, the loss of a special toy or security blanket may be overwhelming for the child and they may find it difficult to sleep or eat until the toy is found.

Many changes are no one's fault and cannot be stopped from happening. 

A parent may change jobs and have to move the family to another city,

parents may not get along and may separate or divorce, or a loved one may die. 

In such situations, adults may understand that no-one is to blame. 

However, it is common for children to blame someone when they experience an important change or loss. 

Sometimes they blame themselves, regardless of how unrealistic this may seem to an adult. 

If this is the case, it is important to say specifically to the child that many children do this but that they are not to blame. 

They also need to know that you don't blame them. 

They see that you are upset and wonder if they could have done something to make you feel better or stop the event happening.

Parents' divorce may be extremely traumatic for a child, and as a result they may feel worried, angry and lacking in trust and confidence. 

Children who have suffered trauma may be aggressive, withdrawn and less able to learn. 

Respect and understanding from teachers and classmates is therefore crucial to helping the child. 

Boys in particular may be badly affected if, as is often the case in divorce, the father leaves home. 

As most early years teachers are women, these boys may lack any stable male role model. 

Teachers and parents should be aware of this.

Children should also be encouraged to recognize changes within themselves. 

At this age, they become very aware of their own level of maturity in relation to other children - they can start to see that younger children are more 'babyish' than them, they can see the toys that they no longer play with, and when they start school they quickly learn to define their classmates in terms of years or grades. 

In this way, they learn at first hand that changes, both good and bad, are a part of life.