How to explain death to a 3 year old?

yes death is a natural part of life.

I don’t want to scare him so young

My dad passed away at the beginning of last year.. and we told my 2yr old (nearly 3yr) and 4yr old (nearly 5yr) that he was up in the clouds

Say that she was sick but now she’s resting peacefully in heaven.

it shouldn't be a scary thing , its natural

Some stories that are good for explaining/approaching death with little ones:
- Badgers Parting Gifts (Susan Varley)
- Life Is Like the Wind (Shona Innes)
- Grandads Island (Benji Davies)
- Always and Forever (Alan Durant)
- Paper Dolls (Julia Donaldon)
- Waterbugs and Dragonflies (Doris Stickney)
- If all the World were (Joseph Coelho)
- The Memory Tree (Britta Teckentrup)
- The Invisible String (Patrice Karst)
- The Heart and The Bottle (Oliver Jeffers)
- Why Do Things Die? (Katie Daynes)

Go to a children's website and see how they advise telling him what happened.

Bernardo's suggested a while ago saying something like your aunty's body was broken. They tried to fix it in the hospital. But they couldn't fix it. She's in heaven now. Obviously check exactly what they said. Good luck.

Children understand more than we give them credit for. Just explain it simply that she was sick and her body was tired from being so sick, so she passed away xx

We explain to our little girl that nanny has gone to the sky to be with the angels. Nanny was poorly.

She totally gets it (3 and half) and often will say nanny is in the sky when we see rainbows or talk about her

You should get him a kids book that may explain it better!

Children usually don’t get too scared or devastated when you explain death to them. It depends on the child. I went to many funerals as a kid and I used to look in the casket and just ask questions then wave goodbye. I even held an older lady’s hand ( my moms friend) before leaving the funeral home. As I got older it seems morbid and dark lol, but honestly I was just an innocent child and felt like I understood they were going to heaven. Death hits me harder now as an adult than it ever did as a child. I was never shielded from it because my sister had also passed away 5 years before I was born at the age of 3. They had to explain her one way or another.

We say that they’ve become a star, so if they’re missing them they can look up and night and the brightest star is them.

My little brother committed suicide in May, and my 3 year old was more worried about how upset I was. That was the scary part for him. It took me a few days to face the truth and use the words with him: uncle has died. He didn’t quite grasp the concept immediately, but we kept talking about it, about how that is why mummy’s sad sometimes, because she misses uncle and will never get to see him again because he’s died. And that he understands very well. We still talk about it sometimes and he even tells me “you’re sad but i’m not”. It’s more important to explain the feelings and finality of things I find. Death doesn’t hold anything morbid at that age (maybe you’ve seen it as your child saw a dead bee, or other animal on a walk?) but I felt that saying “Uncle’s gone away” would instil a fear of goodbyes (if uncle’s gone away and never come back, what might happen when daddy goes to work tomorrow?)

She is an angel in heaven now, angels are the stars. When you look up at night you can see her. She can see you. Etc.

I had this issue with my 2 year old last month when he watched The Snowman & The Snowdog & the dog died in the first 5 minutes. I just said that he was poorly & tired & was now sleeping because the doctors couldn't make him better.

Yes, as others have recommended I would get a children’s book that aligns with what you believe. We had a great grandparent that passed away when my daughter was 4 and she is a a highly sensitive child and I got her the book “What is Heaven?” And I felt it explained it perfectly for her personality. Check out the local library too.

So anytime an animal we have/ or my mom’s animals die.. we simply say they’re either in clouds or over the rainbow bridge and won’t meet again until later. We try to keep it simple and so far my oldest (5 almost 6) somewhat understands but I know my youngest doesn’t (2 soon to be 3)

My daughter is only 3, and dad killed himself a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and i keep having to explain to her that he isn't coming back and can't because he's in heaven. It's very hard for them to understand, but as time moves on, they'll figure it out because their loved one isn't coming back. There have been many times when she was so sure he was on the computer, in his car, or just somewhere in the house, and it's so heartbreaking. My husband was a 14 yr Navy Veteran with PTSD, but nobody saw this coming.

My aunt died of cancer at 35 yrs old. Her 3 yr old watched her deteriorate over her last year and a half. Her older sisters (12 & 18) also moved out that year. She moved into a smaller house with her dad at the same time. I’m sure she was confused and emotional but nobody took the time to explain these changes to her. Regardless of age, I think every child deserves to get an explanation of why their loved one wouldn’t be here anymore. Maybe take this opportunity to educate your child on why it’s important to live a healthy, happy life. Share the importance of caring for others and appreciating family time. Death is a part of life and not something to hide. My 12 yr old cousin lost her dad and stepmom 6 months apart the year before her mom passed from cancer and she didn’t know the real reasons any of them died until she got on social media 2 years ago which was heartbreaking for her. You don’t need to sound harsh or put fear into your child, but I think there’s value in the truth.

Get kid book to explain or just simply say she no longer in pain an dancing in the clouds looking back at u if u want to be more fun we would pick a star for a lost loved one

Just say she went to place happy And she's not in pain anymore . That her spirit Will always guide him and she will forever be in his heart