In this situation, the most helpful thing you can do is to listen to your child and persuade him to open up about his emotions. "A parent needs to encourage their child to talk about how he or she is feeling regarding this loss," says Peterman. "They should help their child find the words such as sad, angry, or scared to express how the loss is affecting them. Parents need to validate their child's feelings and not tell them to just get over it, make new friends, or go out and play."

Be sure to let your child know that you are there for her to answer any questions she might have about the change. She might not even understand exactly why her friend had to move in the first place. Or she may fear that she'll never be able to make new friends. If you don't help her answer these questions or address these fears, she will have an extremely difficult time dealing with these uncertainties on her own.

Peterman says you should also encourage your child to write letters or emails to his friend or you could allow him to make weekly or monthly phone calls. Giving your child the power to continue communicating with his friend will help him deal with these changes.

Although you should not underestimate your child's sadness about her friend moving, you should let her know that it's okay for her to make new friends. Peterman says, "Let your child know that they have a right to be sad and to miss their friend, but they also have a right to have fun and enjoy new people."