This article is not intended to be considered as counseling, psychotherapy, or specific advice to be followed. It is not meant to take the place of consulting with appropriate professionals for medical, legal, or psychological information or strategies. Rather, readers should take the points of the article and make their own personal judgments as to how and when to apply them if at all.
Children have understandings of death early in life.
Eighteen month olds can identify a cemetery. Nursery rhymes and current popular movies such as The Lion King all have clear references to death and dying. Tthe Lion King is actually wonderful in that it talks about the circle of life. Children also have different types of understanding of death depending on their level of development. This means that a child's understanding of a death not only varies, but that their understanding of a specific death may undergo changes as the child ages.