Can GABA Help Kids With Back-to-School Anxiety?

It’s that familiar mix of worry, fear, and overwhelm that creeps in as the new school year approaches. And for parents, it can be heart-wrenching, frustrating, and often confusing to navigate.

For many children, the issue isn’t school itself - it’s the change in routine, the fear of the unknown, or the anticipatory anxiety about challenges they’ve faced in the past. Some kids can’t quite put their experience into words, so it shows up physically as tummy aches, sleep problems, or emotional outbursts.

If your child is dreading the first day of school, or if anxiety is showing up in more subtle ways, what you’re seeing is likely their nervous system reacting to what it perceives as a major threat.

The good news? Nutrients like GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) may offer real support during this time.

Using Amino Acids to Navigate Back-to-School Stress

I often refer to these kinds of high-pressure times as “stress storms.” A stress storm happens when the stress load is unusually high, and a child’s resilience (their ability to cope) is on the low side.

Back-to-school season is a classic example. The weather changes, sunlight shifts, routines get disrupted, and demands rise. For many kids, this is a perfect storm - especially when combined with poor appetite, restless sleep, or sensory overload, because they're stressed.

This is where amino acids like GABA can help. GABA is a nutrient that functions as a neurotransmitter, helping the brain and body calm down and reset. It plays a key role in supporting emotional regulation, reducing anxiety, and improving the body’s stress response.

Two concepts worth teaching your kids:

• Stress depletes nutrients. The higher the stress load, the more nutrients the body uses up. When demand exceeds supply, we start to feel it - emotionally, physically, and mentally.
• Deep nourishment matters. Giving the body what it needs during high-stress periods makes it more likely that you will come through not only intact, but even stronger.

Whether it’s puberty, pregnancy, menopause, job loss, a breakup, or a major transition, life is full of stress storms. When we equip kids early with this understanding that they need premium nourishment to manage and grow from stress, we better prepare them for life. 

Can GABA Help Reduce Back-to-School Anxiety in Children?

So, back-to-school may be a stress storm, and it won’t be the last. So how do we parent kids through this?

Do we push them toward what’s scary, hoping they’ll rise to the occasion and grow from the experience? Or do we hold them close and give them space until they feel ready?

There’s no easy answer. But here’s something important to consider:

There’s a very fine line between stress and trauma. Expecting a child to grow through stress assumes they have the internal resources to manage it. Without those resources, stress can overwhelm the nervous system. And that's when stress becomes trauma.

So, in real-world parenting? When your child is facing back-to-school anxiety, here's my advice... start by nourishing:

• Prioritize good sleep

• Provide nourishing meals

• Ensure consistent hydration

•  Schedule connection time

 .... And consider natural support for the nerovus system like GABA to soften the anxiety response and increase your child’s sense of internal safety.

Then encourage them to do the thing that feels hard.

This kind of approach makes it more likely your child will walk away from the stressful experience stronger, rather than more fragile.

How Does GABA Work in the Body?

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the brain’s most abundant inhibitory neurotransmitter, meaning it’s responsible for calming the nervous system and dialling down overactivity in the brain.

When stress is high, the body tries to produce more GABA to create balance. But if the body can’t keep up, feelings of anxiety, panic, or fear can take over.

In some cases, supplementing with GABA helps restore that balance and gives kids enough of a buffer to handle a challenge like the first day of school. It won’t eliminate the challenge, but it may make it feel more manageable.

For kids, I typically recommend starting with less than 100 mg, using a sublingual spray or dissolvable tablet. You can slowly increase the amount if needed. Always monitor for changes, and if you notice a negative reaction, stop use.

(We go into more detail about how to use GABA safely in our Amino Acids (with kids!) Quickstart Program.)

Natural Ways to Support GABA in Kids (Without Supplements)

If you'd rather start supporting GABA in ways other than supplemental GABA, there are many natural ways to increase GABA or enhance its effect in the body. Here are some GABA-supporting lifestyle strategies:

• Deep breathing and mindfulness: These relaxation techniques can raise GABA levels naturally.

• Exercise: Regular movement increases GABA production.

• Sleep: Quality sleep is essential for healthy GABA function.

• Probiotics: Certain strains like Lactobacillus rhamnosus JB-1, L. plantarum, and Bifidobacterium longum are known to support GABA production.

• Herbal support: Adaptogens like Ashwagandha help modulate GABA receptor activity.

• Protein + B6: GABA is made from the amino acid glutamate, which comes from protein-rich foods, and needs vitamin B6 for proper conversion.

• Gut health: Since much of the body's GABA is produced in the gut, digestive health is key.

“I Tried GABA and It Backfired!”

If you’ve tried GABA with your child and it seemed to increase anxiety, hyperactivity, or agitation, there may be a reason for it.

Some people have a genetic variation in the enzyme glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), which is responsible for converting glutamate to GABA. In a subset of kids with this genetic variant, the body seems to convert supplemental GABA back into glutamate, which can fuel excitability instead of reducing it.

If you tried GABA and it was a negative experience, I recommend trying L-Theanine instead. A typical dose for kids is 200–500 mg.

L-Theanine:

• Supports the body's GABA production

• Improves how well GABA binds to its receptors

• Modulates dopamine for additional calming effects

Best of all, it’s less likely to trigger the kind of negative feedback loop that some kids with GAD variants experience with GABA.

Final Thoughts: GABA and Back-to-School Anxiety in Children

Feeling nervous before a new experience is entirely normal. And parenting through it takes patience, consistency, and a willingness to observe and adjust.

For some kids, loving reassurance is enough. But for others, especially those dealing with a true stress storm, physiological support like GABA can make a big difference.

Whether through supplemental GABA, L-Theanine, or lifestyle strategies, supporting your child’s nervous system can help them feel more centred, flexible, and capable as they step into a new school year.