My Child Loses Everything: How Can I Help Him?

Are you wondering what to do because your child loses everything? In the following article, we'll offer some helpful advice.
My Child Loses Everything: How Can I Help Him?

Last update: 04 October, 2021

My child loses everything! One day it’s the umbrella, another day their pencil case, and the next day, their jacket. You’re sure to know what we’re talking about. Right?

In that case, there’s an important thing you should know: An overprotective and permissive education encourages passive and dependent behaviors in children. And they don’t allow them to be responsible for their things because, after all, their parents are there to remind them of everything.

Therefore, it’s essential that you encourage the autonomy of children from an early age so that they learn to take responsibility for their objects. Do you know how to go about it?

My child loses everything: Possible causes of forgetfulness

The reasons for losing things vary greatly. In fact, there are children who are more absent-minded than others and who, being easily distracted, lose their belongings.

To help them, you need to know what produces this forgetfulness. Let’s look at some of the most common reasons.

Neurological disorders

Some organic diseases (neurological or psychiatric) can cause the child’s confusion, among other manifestations.

If you suspect this could be the case , then you need to consult with a specialist in order to reach a specific diagnosis of the problem, whether it’s temporary or permanent.

Child stress

The forgetfulness and forgetfulness may be due to stress. In this sense, it’s important to find out if it’s a typical concern of their age (problems with a friend) or some situation that’s overwhelming them, such as bullying or domestic violence.

These are problems that can lead to frequent forgetfulness in children, as an unconscious way of asking for help.

Students laughing and pointing at their classmate who's covering her face with her hands.

Changes in their diet

We mustn’t forget that food plays a fundamental role in our intellectual performance. Some foods can make concentration difficult and, therefore, we necessary to detect any behavioral changes that appear after the ingestion of certain foods.

At the same time, maintaining a healthy and complete diet can be a protective factor against these mistakes.

My child loses everything: How can I help them?

Surely you’ve asked yourself this over and over again if your child’s a bit absent-minded and loses their things frequently. For this reason, we’re going to offer you some tips so that you can help them. Keep reading!

1. Teach him to be responsible

If every time your child loses something you immediately buy it back, you’re not encouraging their responsibility. They need to experience the consequences of their mistakes in order to pay more attention next time.

As time goes by, your little one may become aware of the benefits of being responsible and the consequences of not being responsible. Therefore, the greater the responsibility, the greater the freedom and privileges.

2. Label your things

If your child loses supplies frequently, one option is to tag all their belongings. This way, if they get lost, they can at least be more easily recovered.

3. Provide visual aids

A blackboard or an agenda can be very helpful in remembering certain things. Sometimes children need adults to teach them to organize themselves mentally and this can be achieved through visual aids. In this way, it’s easier to develop a mental scheme of space and time.

A mother and child working on a calendar.

4. Make scripts to remember

We can make up little scripts to help them remember the sequence of events to follow. For example, before going out I check that I’ve grabbed my jacket and then I check my backpack to see if everything is there.

We must remind them of the script at home over and over again until the day comes when they do it automatically and without help.

My son loses everything, but I can help!

If you’ve read this far, then surely you’ve already learned some of the keys to helping your child improve in this regard. But first, you need to investigate what may be the reason for their mistakes.

There are children who, naturally, are somewhat distracted, but we can wor k with them with responsibility and help them improve.


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • De la Gándara, J., García, X. R., & Pozo, J. V. (2006). Despistado, acelerado e inquieto.¿ Es hiperactivo. Barcelona: Planeta Prácticos.
  • Alonqueo, P., & Soto, P. (2011). ¿ Es despistado o está despistado?: Infiriendo la estabilidad de los rasgos psicológicos. Psykhe (Santiago), 20(2), 87-100. https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-22282011000200008&script=sci_arttext&tlng=n

This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.