Young children's grief: parents' understanding and coping

The grief experiences of young children and the interactional dynamics between parents and children leading to healthy grieving remain comparatively underresearched. This article reports a qualitative evaluation of a Norwegian Bereavement Support Program where 8 parents described their young child s grief reactions and coping and how these intersected with their own grief. Successful parental coping with their child s grief involves understanding the child s genuine concerns following the death and an intricately holistic balance between shielding and including, between informing and frightening, and between creating a new life while cherishing the old.