Early Childhood Care - Importance of Sleep, Routine, Breastfeeding, Immunization, Hygiene and Sun Safety

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE
EATLY CHILDHOOD CARE
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1EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE
Response to Question 1
The caregiver must enquire the parents about the amount of sleep their child is receiving
every day, since a toddler’s sleep requirements range from 12 to 14 hours within a period of 24
hours. The parents must provide information about the maintenance of sleep routine, since
irregular sleep timings will result in poor rest and sleep. Toddlers need a peaceful environment to
sleep and hence the caregiver must ask the parent about the presence of noise or bright lights in
the environment. Drink and food ingestion immediately prior to sleep will affect the sleeping
pattern of the child: hence the care giver must obtain information from the parents about the
child’s dietary habits. 1
Response to Question 2
I have been involved in accommodating the routines of babies and toddlers in the
previous child care center I was employed in. Maintenance of routine helps in reducing stress in
the child along with regulation of behaviors and attitudes. This was performed by following
fixed eating schedules of the children during the morning, afternoon, early evening and late
evening hours, as well as following a fixed sleeping schedule in the morning and late afternoon
hours, in order to meet the dietary and resting needs of the children. The staff also performed
cleaning and nappy replacements of the children at two hour intervals in order to accommodate
their toileting requirements. 2
1 McDowall, Philippa S., Barbara C. Galland, Angela J. Campbell, and Dawn E. Elder. "Parent knowledge of
children's sleep: A systematic review." Sleep medicine reviews 31 (2017): 39-47.
2 Kim, Hyun-Ju, and Gyeong-Pil Ko. "An analysis of research trends related with adjustment of infants and toddlers
to child care center." Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society 16, no. 1 (2015): 223-234.