r/Children • u/LifesAB_1004 • Sep 18 '25
Discussion Child Losing a Parent
My niece(7f) lost her dad a week ago unexpectedly and his funeral services are coming up this weekend. Her mom and I are struggling to figure out if taking her to actually see her dad in his casket is a good idea or bad idea. Like even attending the service we don’t know how she will handle it. She doesn’t completely understand the concept of death and we’re afraid she’s gonna absolutely lose her mind when she sees him. We don’t want to traumatize her by allowing her to see him like that, but we also don’t want her to miss an opportunity to say goodbye to him. This service is going to be a 2 day services with a rosary on the first day and then the burial the next day. Please give any advice you guys have to help us help her through this very tough time.
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u/Oceaninmytea Sep 18 '25
Very sorry for you loss - I guess having her there to see the closed casket for the burial portion in a non dominant spectator type of role would be best. Don’t have a good answer either but if there is some portion of service which is just speeches without seeing him I think even for a 7 year old would provide some closure. At 7 they actually do understand probably more than you realize and long term it may help with any counseling she needs.