Does your little one goes to an early childhood service? Here are a few things you can do to make the transition easier, to help them still get great sleep.
Orientation
Before your little ones first day I recommend you spend some time at the service with your child. This is generally called an orientation visit. This will help your child to feel comfortable in the environment. It will help them to start forming a relationship with the educators. Depending on your child you may want to go 2 or 3 times.
The More Information the Better
The next tip I have is give the educators all the information you can about your child. Tell them about their routine at home. How they go to sleep. Are they rocked, patted, do they self settle. How long they sleep for. What the sleep environment is like at home. The educators should do their best they can to follow what you do at home.
Sleep Associations
If your little one has a cuddly, sleeping bag, dummy or any other sleep association at home make sure you take it with them. These sleep associations will help them to feel more comfortable in the new sleep environment. If you can I recommend you have more than one of what you can, try to have 2 cuddly’s and many dummies. This way if you leave it at the service or you need to wash it you have a spare.
Communication is the Key
Communication is the key. Make sure you are talking to your child’s educators about how their day was. How much did they sleep, what they ate and that you tell them the same information when you drop them off. It is normal for your little ones naps to be a bit off when they first start at a service. As they become more comfortable at the service and form relationships with the educators it will improve. If your child’s naps are short or your child may be tired from a big day of playing and learning at the service. I recommend you give them an early bed time to prevent them becoming overtired.
Early childhood educators are amazing and will often do everything they can to help your little one settle in at the service.
To read more about why sleep is great check out this blog.