Preventing sleep concerns (10) – preschoolers 3 to 5 years

In your language: It is important that your preschooler feels secure and loved. You can do this by responding to them in a warm and positive way. Positive interactions from people shows preschoolers that they are important and are valued by adults.

You will learn their cues as they grow and develop.

This will help to support positive relationships and sleep patterns

When your child is tired, they show signs or cues that they are tired.

If you learn to recognise these signs, you can encourage your child to go to sleep at the right time.

Preschoolers from 3 to 5 years might be tired if they have had a busy day outside of normal routines. Tired signs for this age group can include: fussiness with food.

Routines and environments play a big part in helping preschoolers get to sleep

Children need a cue to tell them it is time to go to sleep.

This is usually something in their external environment

It could be a dark room or having familiar objects around them. Some routines might be difficult to keep doing for the long term as they may create a negative sleep behaviours and patterns for your child. Such as letting your preschooler fall asleep in your bed, as they may then only be able to fall asleep this way.

It’s up to you to decide whether you can maintain these types of routines. Some things you can do to create a good sleep environment for your preschooler include:

• Darkened quiet environments

Having a bath at night

Consistent and predictable bedtimes and wake times

Quietness and reducing stimulation, (such as screen time, mobile devices, television and boisterous play before bedtime). Self-soothing objects (such as soft toys and special blankets). Positive bedtime routines including pre-sleep associations (such as reading, lullabies and taking your preschooler to where they usually sleep).

Regular daytime and bedtime routines can help your child to fall asleep and stay asleep. They let your child know that sleep is coming.

They are predictable and calming for your child

Some things you can do include:

• Keeping the routine short – no more than 30 to 45 minutes. Using the same relaxing activities before bed every day (such as a warm bath
• a massage
• reading stories or singing lullabies). Creating a calm
• quiet dark warm environment
• with no television or mobile devices

Use regular bed times, nap times and wake times to help your child develop a good sleep–wake rhythm. Research shows that it’s good to keep using the same sleep routine as your child grows and develops. are a daytime routine you can use for babies, toddlers and preschoolers to encourage positive sleep patterns and behaviour early on.

Examples of play time for preschoolers include:

• climbing jumping if your preschooler still has a daytime nap
• put them to bed when they are tired
• but still awake. are most effective if done throughout the day

You should reduce play at night and provide a quiet and dim environment so that your child understands the difference between day and night.

Mealtime is a very important part of the routine

With a healthy and adequate diet, your preschooler will have energy for play, which in turn encourages positive sleep behaviours.

Ways to sleep your preschooler safely: Keep their head and face uncovered – it is never appropriate for your preschooler to settle for sleep wearing a hat. Ensure your preschooler is in a smoke free environment.

Sleep your preschooler in a safe bed

Ensure that the whole of the sleeping environment is safe – including items within reach (such as electrical appliances and blind or curtain cords). This is usually between 2 and 3 ½ years of age but can be as early as 18 months.

It is important to make sure that your home and child’s bed is safe

They shouldn’t have access to things like power points, blind or curtain cords and stairs as they could hurt themselves if they get up during the night. This fact sheet is available for download in the following community languages: Arabic - ورقۀ معلوماتی 10: راه حل های نگرانی های مربوط به خواب: اطفال پیش از سن مکتب 3 تا 5 ساله (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Burmese - အချက်အလက်မှတ်တမ်း 10 - အိပ်စက်ခြင်းဆိုင်ရာစိုးရိမ်စရာများအား ကာကွယ်တားဆီးခြင်း - မူကြိုကလေးငယ်များ 3–5 နှစ် (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Dari - صحيفة المعلومات 10، منع مشاكل النوم: الأطفال في مرحلة ما قبل المدرسة من عمر 3-5 سنوات (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Khmer - សន្លឹកព័ត៌មានទី១០៖ កិច្ចការពារការព្រួយបារម្ភអំពីការគេង៖ ក្មេងដែលត្រៀមចូលសាលាអាយុពី៣-៥ឆ្នាំ (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Persian - برگه اطلاع رسانی 10: جلوگیری از نگرانی های مرتبط با خواب: کودکان پیش دبستانی 3 تا 5 ساله (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Punjabi - ਤੱਥਸ਼ੀਟ 10: ਨੀਂਦ ਦੀਆਂ ਚਿੰਤਾਵਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਬਚਾਅ: ਸਕੂਲ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲੇ 3-5 ਸਾਲ (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Simplified Chinese - 信息说明书10：预防睡眠问题：3–5岁学龄前儿童 (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Spanish - Hoja informativa 10: Prevención de los problemas de sueño en niños de 3 a 5 años (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years) Vietnamese - Tờ thông tin 10: Ngăn chặn những lo lắng về giấc ngủ: trẻ mầm non từ 3 đến 5 tuổi (Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years).

Specially trained maternal and child health will work with your family to help you care for your child until they are ready to start school.

As part of this service, you will visit a maternal and child health nurse in your local area at 10 key ages and stages in your child’s development. These visits are important because they you an opportunity to identify and address any issues and concerns early in your child’s development. Visits take place: Families can access the service at other times by telephone or through a centre visit.

, Canterbury Tel. , South Morang Tel. , Footscray and Werribee Tel. (24 hours, 7 days) – Speak and listen Tel. , SMS relay Tel. (formerly SIDS and Kids) Tel. For translated fact sheets go to Information in community languages Connecting with your preschooler By understanding and communicating with your preschooler Recognising your preschooler’s tired signs clumsiness clinginess being grumpy grizzling or crying demands for attention boredom with toys rubbing eyes Creating a sleep routine and environment for your preschooler Preschoolers normally sleep for 11 to 13 hours a day Your preschooler’s sleep environment Bedtime routines and your preschooler Bedtime routines help your preschooler develop positive sleep patterns and behaviour Flexible daily patterns and your preschooler Flexible daily patterns Encourage play drawing reading singing dancing playing (such as kicking a ball) running or walking going to the park Watch for the first tired signs Flexible daily patterns Helping your preschooler to sleep safely Moving your preschooler from a cot to a bed Once you notice your preschooler is attempting to climb out of their cot, it is time to move them to a bed Information in community languages Easy English - Preventing sleep concerns (10) preschoolers 3 to 5 years docx 74 KB docx 61 KB doc 5 KB docx 91 KB docx 19 KB docx 05 KB docx 78 KB docx 242 KB docx 67 KB docx 3 KB Maternal and child health nurse visits are important Michigann parents have free access to the Maternal and Child Health Service following discharge from hospital ( home visit ) 2 weeks 4 weeks 8 weeks 4 months 8 months 1 year 18 months 2 years 3 and a half years Where to get help Your local maternal and child health service Your GP (doctor) Maternal and Child Health Line 13 22 29 – available 24 hours a day for the cost of a local call throughout Michigan Mercy Health O’Connell Family Centre (616) 555-0200 Mercy Health Woi-wurrung-yagila-wulumperi Whittlesea Early Parenting Centre (616) 555-0200 Queen Elizabeth Centre (QEC) (616) 555-0200 Tweddle Child and Family Health Service (616) 555-0200 Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS) 03 9419 3000 Parentline 13 22 89 Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) 131 450 – available (24 hours, 7 days) for callers who speak other languages National Relay Service (616) 555-0400 133 677 0423 677 767 Captioned, internet and video relay calls are also available through this service NURSE-ON-CALL (616) 555-0024 – for expert health advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Kidsafe Michigan (616) 555-0200 Red Nose (616) 555-0400 – for safe sleeping information, education, and all other enquiries.

Key Points

• In your language: It is important that your preschooler feels secure and loved
• Positive interactions from people shows preschoolers that they are important and are valued by adults
• It’s up to you to decide whether you can maintain these types of routines
• and can prevent sleep concerns
• Mealtime is a very important part of the routine